There are two new cases of COVID-19  as of yesterday, with both being local transmissions and two existing patients have been entered into intensive care after their condition deteriorated.

Of the new cases, one is the husband of case 159 from the Vunimono cluster and has been  in isolation since May 12.

Another is a healthcare worker at the Colo-i-Suva isolation ward and  registered a positive COVID-19 test result during a routine swabbing.

He has since been entered into isolation. Both patients are asymptomatic, which means they are not displaying COVID-like symptoms and contact tracing is ongoing for both cases.

Health Permanent Secretary, Doctor James Fong says the two in ICU are receiving the best possible care from their attending physicians.

With the lockdown for Suva and Nausori to end at 4am tomorrow, Doctor Fong says the Ministry is collecting data through screening, contact tracing, and testing to inform its recommendation on the next steps for the containment strategy for the Suva and Nausori lockdown zone, as well as the containment areas in Nadi, Lautoka, Lami and Rakiraki.

“We will announce these protocols tomorrow afternoon as part of the next phase of COVID containment for Suva, Nausori, and the rest of Viti Levu.”

He says the strict lockdown currently enforced in the Suva-Nausori corridor is the most stringent containment measure in their toolkit, and his teams are making the best possible use of this window of opportunity to firm our grip on this outbreak.

“With everyone in Suva and Nausori at home under a 24-hour curfew, our contact tracing, screening, and testing is progressing rapidly. The primary and secondary contacts we need to find are being found quickly before they can pose a wider risk of transmission. Our game plan will continue to evolve alongside the facts we gather from our testing and tracing, taken together with the best available medical and scientific information. What it is clear at this stage is that our war against the virus will not be won in four days. For the foreseeable future, we still need people to remain at home as much as possible. For our containment to be effective from a socioeconomic and epidemiological standpoint, we are developing new COVID-safe measures to allow access to food, other essential items and services, as well as sustainable livelihoods.”

There are currently 51 active cases with four being border quarantine cases, 35 are local cases, and 12 are currently classified as cases of community transmission.

Fiji has now had 174 cases in total since our first case was detected on March 19th 2020, with 119 recoveries, and four deaths.