The Health Ministry says the rate of test positivity stands at around 1.5 percent and this has increased due to an influx of cases in the Central Division.

A World Health Organization criteria says, a positive rate of less than five percent is one indicator that the epidemic is under control in a country.

It further says due to limited testing makes it likely that many cases will be missed, the positive rate can also help our understanding of the spread of the virus.

Head of Health Protection, Doctor Aalisha Sahukhan

Head of Health Protection, Doctor Aalisha Sahukhan, says this is something that happens when case numbers rise.

“Our daily average of testing nationally is over 2400. The most recent data shows that testing in the Central Division is continuing to happen at a very high level. We exceeding our target of three tests per 1000 population. However, we also seeing that our average daily test positivity is also increasing and right now it is sitting around one point five percent. That is below our threshold of two to five percent but we know the increasing cases in the Central Division is causing an increase in this test positivity.”

As of yesterday, Fiji has had 401 cases since the first case was detected in March of last year, with 164 recoveries and four deaths.

There have been 331 cases since the second outbreak started in April and there are now 233 active cases.