The Australian government is funding the backlog of swabs that will tomorrow be sent from Fiji to a private lab for testing.
Fiji has more than 11,000 swab results yet to be processed as the Fijian Centre for Disease Control went into shutdown last week as there were positive cases of COVID-19 within the facility.
Health Permanent Secretary, Doctor James Fong, says due to the backlog they are prioritizing the swab results from the highest risk individuals.
He has also confirmed that some of the 11k swabs are being sent to Australia.
The results of swabs which will be sent to Australia is expected over the weekend.
Australia’s High Commissioner to Fiji, John Feakes, says they stand ready to assist wherever possible and his government under the Vulvale partnership is with Fiji at all times.
The backlog test results are expected to dictate where we are in terms of community transmissions and what steps are needed to be taken by the health ministry.
