There has been a blatant disregard of COVID-19 safe measures.
This is what fijivillage witnessed when we visited the Suva Bus Stand and Suva’s popular night spots between 6pm to 7.30pm last night.
We saw people walking and standing next to each other and not wearing masks, bus drivers allowing passengers inside without masks, bus drivers not wearing masks, bouncers of two nightclubs not wearing masks, groups of boys sharing cigarettes and drinks, people inside supermarkets without masks and minibuses and buses breaching the passenger capacity rule.
Many of those sitting next to each other at the bus terminals were not wearing masks.
Fijivillage also noticed that as soon as people sat down in the buses, they took off their masks.
We did not see police officers in the areas we visited during these times.
Police Commissioner Brigadier-General Sitiveni Qiliho has told fijivillage that there has been a general lackadaisical attitude to COVID restrictions recently and that has been worrying for the Fiji Police Force, the Ministry of Health and the Government.
Qiliho says they have discussed with their Minister and the Minister for Health regarding those who are not following the COVID-19 protocols. He adds they had some briefings on having surge operations in Fiji to enforce the measures that are supposed to be in place.
