[Source: Fiji Police]

Until the Health Ministry has a clearer idea of the extent of transmission in Suva and Nausori the lockdown serves the dual purpose of putting a firm halt on further spread.

PS for Health Dr James Fong adds there may be community cases the Ministry does not know about.

He says the Ministry will use this lockdown period to trace and swab Fijians.

“Those are the marching orders Ministry-wide. Trace. Swab. Repeat. Those swab results will go for processing at our operational testing sites until the Fiji CDC is fully back up and running. The results of that exercise will inform our next steps.”

Dr Fong says if people in the lockdown areas are not feeling well at any time during the four days, they can call the number 158 and a health team will visit them.

He stressed that travel is permitted for medical emergencies during the lockdown.

This includes kidney dialysis patients who need to travel to receive life-sustaining treatment.