The Somosomo village in Naviti

The Ministry of Health has identified areas of concern as it announces 205 new COVID-19 infections.

Permanent Secretary Doctor James Fong says the areas they are concerned about include Kadavu, Malolo Island and Somosomo village in Yasawa.

He adds that of the 205 new COVID-19 infections, 29 cases were recorded in Kadavu, raising the total active cases on the island to 164.

95 cases are from the Western Division, 80 from the Central Division, 29 from the Eastern Division and one case from the Northern Division.

A 55-member response team has been dispatched to Kadavu to assist with containment efforts on the island and offer treatment for those who develop severe symptoms.

Dr Fong also warns that they are expecting the situation in Somosomo village in Naviti, Yasawa to worsen.

“For Somosomo village in Naviti, we expect the impact to be more severe. As you’ve noted from our previous statements in Somosomo, the first evidence of the disease being in Somosomo was the death of a patient. That is similar to the situation that we got in Kadavu which means the disease was present for some time before this person presented with severe illness”.

The Permanent Secretary says a public health team has been deployed to map out a plan to contain the spread of the virus on Malolo island which currently has 23 active cases of COVID-19.

The Ministry says their investigations and deployment to Kadavu, Malolo and Naviti have been delayed due to bad weather conditions, however, they hope to see quick measures being placed in these new areas of concern in the coming days.

Dr Fong says one individual repatriating from Suva to the North has tested positive for COVID-19 while undergoing 14 days of quarantine at the Malau Quarantine Facility in Labasa.

This brings the total active cases in the Northern Division to five which include one in Nabouwalu, three in Labasa, and one at the Malau Quarantine Facility.

The primary contacts of the Nabouwalu index case continue to return negative test results in quarantine.

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