Lautoka Hospital.

The Ministry of Health is working to minimize the risk of community transmission in Lautoka.

Permanent Secretary for Health, Dr James Fong says this is done by separating medical staff reporting to the Lautoka Hospital and the Fiji Emergency Medical Assistance Team (FEMAT) respectively.

Dr Fong says the FEMAT Field hospital takes the strain off Lautoka Hospital, which is now designated for the care of COVID patients.

“The Field Hospital treats the cases the hospitals would normally expect to treat – -acute cases, accidents, childbirth, and other non-elective surgeries, for example. We are doing this because we don’t want to put non-infected patients in the same hospitals with infected patients.”

He adds that maternity care will also be done in the FEMAT Hospital while deliveries will be done onboard the MV Veivueti, while further care of sick mothers and babies will be done at the new Ba Hospital.

“While the Field hospital is technically only for emergency care, we will see whoever comes through the gate, aside, of course, from any patients showing COVID-like symptoms.”

FEMAT has set up a 150-bed non-COVID Field Hospital since Lautoka hospital went on lockdown.