COVID-19

Positive cases identified following Christmas party

December 28, 2021 5:50 am

Four positive cases of COVID-19 were identified following a Christmas party at a restaurant in Suva last week.

Permanent Secretary for Health, Doctor James Fong says the Ministry is currently doing its contact tracing operations, however, they are grateful that a number of attendees, some of whom are symptomatic have presented themselves for testing.

He says this is not unexpected as COVID-safe measures with vaccination reduce the risk of getting infected but do not remove that risk.

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Dr. Fong says current indications are that all those who tested positive are stable and that all attendees of the function were fully vaccinated.

He adds they remain very confident that there are other events and gatherings happening throughout the weekend and expect cases to escalate.

In Suva, the Ministry has currently defined 65 active cases however they are sure that this is an underestimate and there are many more.

Doctor Fong adds the Ministry is aware that there is an increase in evidence of positive cases in the community within Viti Levu.

He also warns that the possibility of reintroducing earlier curfews, placing more restrictions on gatherings, and escalating further their mask-wearing mandates is always under consideration.