There are two new cases of COVID-19 in the country announced last night after over 1026 tests were conducted and 25, 064 Fijians screened.

The two are the daughters of the woman from Cunningham and were in isolation where they tested positive.

The daughters are aged five and 15 respectively.

This means that a total of seven from the household have now tested positive for the virus.

Health Permanent Secretary, Doctor James Fong, says the screening in the Suva-Nausori lockdown has been hindered a little with the wet weather being experienced.

However, he says they have made up ground and have so far identified all 877 contacts of case 113, the woman who works for Lyndhurst in Kalabu.

“These are individuals who travelled with her on the same bus and who worked with her in close proximity. Of the 877 total contacts, 833 have been screened and swabbed. 477 have tested negative with the remaining samples due to be tested. All primary contacts will be retested during their mandatory 14 days of quarantine, which begins from their last contact with the case. More samples have been received from today’s contact tracing. Tomorrow, we will know whether or not our testing reveals that the lockdown will arrive at its scheduled conclusion at 0400 hours on Monday morning.”

The ministry says two out of the three cases in Ra are still without a source and this may require more stringent measures in the near future, but for now Doctor Fong is urging Fijians within that containment area to be on high-alert.

“We have not locked down Ra at this stage.”

Doctor Fong has also hit out at those who have been trying to cheat the system and take advantage of the ration.

“Our COVID-19 Food Ration hotline went live this morning. We received 100,000 calls as of noon today. I was disappointed to learn that we had several members of the same households inundating the number with calls. We were clear yesterday — food is distributed on a household-by-household basis. Attempts to game the system only succeed at delaying the delivery of food to Fijians with a genuine need. That selfishness has serious consequences for those who need this assistance.”

“We have an e-mail address available to help divert some of the call volume. If you can use e-mail, please do — it is the fastest way our teams can get into contact with you. You can send your name, address, the number of people in your household, and your mobile number to [email protected]. Our teams will follow-up with you as soon as they can.”

The Ministry is also urging Fijians to report any social issues they face or see as the Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama, has called domestic violence an ugly scourge on our society.

“So I’m urging everyone, if you, or someone you know, is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Helpline number 1560, or the child helpline at 1325. Help will come to you. You can call at any time, any day of the week, to report a crime. Even if you just need someone to talk to, call either of those numbers. That applies for children, for women, and for men as well. Anyone can be a victim, and that support is available to any who need it.”

Three active cases have also recovered and have been discharged

“Some of our patients in isolation at the moment do fall within high-risk categories for severe illness, and we are monitoring them closely. But so far, all of our existing cases are in stable condition,” says Doctor Fong.

Looking at our second wave cases so far, yesterday, a woman, who is the wife of case number 110, had  tested positive.

Earlier this week. we had we had a person test positive on Thursday.

He had arrived from PNG arrival, was in quarantine and tested since April 9th, had three negative pre-departure tests before leaving PNG, and tested negative twice while in Tanoa quarantine facility before being discharged last Friday.

He was re-swabbed in Navua as part of the quarantine breaches at the facility and tested positive.

[Source: Fijian Government]

A woman from Vunimono, Nausori was announced on Thursday.

She is the wife of the man who had tested positive on Wednesday and his 52-year-old aunt are all positive cases.

The 52-year-old is a concern as she worked in a garment factory, which had been shut down since the restrictions were announced but screening for anyone she worked with is ongoing.

A 68-year-old male from Rakiraki also tested positive yesterday, while, a border quarantine case, a man who had traveled from Guyana to Fiji and is a Tongan national and was on his way to Tonga is also infected.

He arrived on the last flight into Fiji on April 22, through NZ 952 from Auckland.

The 25-year-old man who had stayed at the Makoi house of the soldier and his wife, who is also positive, was announced on Wednesday as positive.

Four of the six are soldiers returning from overseas and fraternized amongst themselves and were announced positive this week along with two family members of the woman from Wainitarawau, Cunningham Stage 1.

Of the cases announced on Monday, first up was a soldier, who is a roommate of case 73 or soldier who was announced positive last Sunday, while there were also four cases, who are all contacts of the hotel maid from Nadi, who had tested positive after having contracted the virus from the first solider or case 73, during an interaction.

The cases continue after the maid from Nadi tested positive last week Monday and the day before when the army officer had got the virus, after supposedly handling the baggage of a couple who had arrived from India with the virus.

Following that, we had a woman from Cunningham, who had attended the ‘Super Spreader’ funeral in Tavakubu, Lautoka, while her 14-year-old daughter and toddler contracted the virus as well.

The maid’s daughter and a close contact along with another couple who attended the funeral, have also tested positive, with the woman from Makoi, who is the wife of the soldier, who had made contact with case 73.

The Health Ministry has also announced the areas of interest in its effort to track anybody who could have come in contact with those who have so far tested positive of COVID-19.

People who were present at these venues and times and have not been contacted are to contact 158 and remain at home.

The Health Ministry has also released areas of interest that a recent COVID-19 case visited in the Pacific Harbour and Navua areas.

The Ministry is requesting Fijians who may have been present at any of these locations on the dates and times given above and have not been contacted by the response team from the Ministry, to remain in their homes and call 158.

An email address has now been set up to help cater for the large call volume on the 161 Food Ration Helpline.

If calls do not get answered, Fijians are alternatively requested to email their details to: [email protected]