The World Health Organization is advising that proactive and strict measures need to be taken to avoid COVID emergencies.

Incident Manager for the Pacific, Sean Casey says countries like Fiji cannot afford to let their guard down as the spread of Omicron and Delta variants remains rampant in our communities.

Casey says individual measures are the best way to avoid severe impacts.

He adds Fiji and many other countries are now in a situation where they have to live with the virus.

“We really want to avoid lockdown. They have a massive impact on society. They are temporary measures. The transmission will still happen. Many of the deaths that we are seeing in Fiji on a regular basis are people who are older, who have not been vaccinated, and who don’t seek care. A lot of the deaths are happening at home.”

Casey says the majority of the deaths in Fiji are in the high-risk category.

He is reminding Fijians that strict adherence to personal COVID safety measures is very important during this third wave.