Health officials are tracking down those persons that would have had close contact with the flight attendant who tested positive for COVID-19.

Head of Health Protection, Dr. Aalisha Sahukhan has specified that close contact is somebody that would have spent 15 minutes or more face to face with the flight attendant during the infectious period or someone who spent two hours within or in a close confined space with him.

The infectious transmission period has been narrowed down to the Monday 16th March when the man worked on the San Francisco to Nadi flight, FJ 871 and on Tuesday, 17th of March on the Nadi to Auckland flight return which were FJ 410 and FJ 411.

“What we do then is that we talk to them, see if they got any symptoms of the disease. If anyone has symptoms and they’re defined as a close contact, then we isolate them, take a sample and also get them tested. The rest of them if they have no symptoms and are completely well, we will monitor them for 14 days and they are also told to self-quarantine at home.”

Meanwhile, the Chief Medical Adviser, Dr. Jemesa Tudravu is urging the public to refrain from listening and sharing rumors of coronavirus cases in Fiji on social media.

Dr. Tudravu also clarifying that any information on a suspect coronavirus case or otherwise will only be revealed by Health Ministry officials.

For more information and if in need of medical attention, the Ministry of Health has set up four hotline numbers that people can contact should they experience any coronavirus symptoms in addition to having a relevant travel history of where the virus has been rampant.