Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama during the press conference

The Ministry of Health has published the list of the names and locations on its Facebook page of all individuals, who were on the flight, which was serviced by the flight attendant who is Fiji’s first COVID-19 patient.

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says these people need to immediately self-quarantine as 62 passengers have yet to come forward, despite repeated attempts to contact them.

He says through our contact tracing, our teams immediately began identifying all individuals who potentially came into contact with the patient during his servicing of three different flights: FJ 411 from Nadi to Auckland, FJ 410 from Auckland to Nadi and FJ 871 from San Francisco to Nadi.

The PM says working with Fiji Airways, authorities were able to quickly identify every passenger and potential point of contact on those flights.

He says of the 359 passengers and crew, 277 have been contacted and have since either left the country or entered self-quarantine in Fiji.

They will be tested if they begin to display symptoms.

“Passengers have yet to come forward, despite repeated attempts to contact them. While some may have left the country, it is vital we get all of these people accounted for. At the moment, they pose an unacceptable risk – so we are enlisting your help to track them down.”

He says because while these passengers’ interaction with the first patient may have been extremely brief – especially compared to the intimacy of a 12-person household – Fijians must exercise an abundance of caution, and extinguish absolutely any chance of COVID-19 spreading further.

“If any of these people are infected, even if they appear healthy, they could easily infect anyone they interact with and start an outbreak that spreads and spreads and spreads across the entire country. That is why all of us, everywhere in Fiji, need to recognise we’re at risk and adhere closely to every measure of protection we’ve put in place. Until we can trace each and every one of these passengers – all Fijians, wherever they reside, should stay home as much as possible and limit all non-essential travel. Go straight to work, and come straight home.”

Once again, all the individuals’ named need to immediately self-quarantine.

[Source: Fijian Government]

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