The Health Ministry has increased its daily COVID-19 laboratory tests, in line with its response to the latest cases.

Head of Health Protection, Dr Aalisha Sahukhan says they’ve conducted 828 tests on Friday.

Dr. Sahukhan says Fiji’s test positivity percentage indicates health screenings are being carried out appropriately.

She says teams are working around the clock testing Fijians in high-risk areas, contacts of the six confirmed local cases, and health workers.

“That test positivity is essentially the percentage of the total positive cases from the amount of testing we are doing. If you see the test positivity continue to rise, then it indicates that there is more community transmission happening. If your test positivity go beyond two percent, in the US I think its five percent that’s indicating that you are not testing enough, there are many more cases out there then you are able to test and find.”

Permanent Secretary Dr. James Fong says the Health Ministry has even gone beyond the World Health Organization requirements and benchmarks against the testing mechanism used by some developed countries.

“What you do is you do more then you need to. So when I say to the public I expect to find cases that means I’m really looking because I know I’m going to find it, but that does literally mean that I will find it, but we are going further then we need to in some instances.”

Dr. Fong says the Ministry will be ramping up its testing over the next few days.