An emotional Head of Health Protection, Dr Aalisha Sahukhan has paid tribute to all the health staff and her own team at the Fiji Centre for Disease Control.

She says while they are not perfect all the time, saving lives is always the priority.

This comes as three cases of COVID-19 at the Fiji CDC has hit Dr Sahukhan on a personal level.

“They are my team. In ordinary times, I would be up there at Fiji CDC at Mataika House, but because of the outbreak I have been here at the Ministry of Health HQ, and the only reason why I can be away from my team for so long, is because they are such a wonderful team. We may not do everything perfectly all the time, but believe me we all are doing our very best to try and keep you safe.”

The Ministry of Health has halted all testing at Fiji’s Centre for Disease Control while decontamination is being completed.

Permanent Secretary for Health, Dr. James Fong, says the onsite staff will continue processing samples after decontamination of the facility and the staff will be tested and retested frequently during their sequestration period, similar to what is happening at Lautoka Hospital.

“We know that there was limited contact between administration staff and the lab personnel due to existing protocols, however, as a result of these cases, Fiji CDC has been sequestered, with staff onsite, or placed in quarantine facilities.”

Dr. Fong says investigations indicate the cluster of positive cases at Fiji’s Centre of Disease Control originated outside of the facility and the virus was then taken in, as would be an expected consequence of community transmission.

Dr. Fong stresses that all other Fiji CDC staff have tested negative so far, including all laboratory and medical staff in the centre.