The Ministry of Health is concerned that some COVID-19 positive patients are knowingly walking around outside the care facility.

This after the emergence of a four-minute video which is circulating widely on social media which opens in one of the patient tents at the Colonial War Memorial hospital, in Suva.

Permanent Secretary for Health, Doctor James Fong says the woman has broken the law and they will formally lodge a complaint.

Doctor Fong says they have created extra capacity to be able to save as many lives as possible.

He adds the tents are created for the purpose of ensuring access to treatment modalities.

That facility was erected for the purposes of bolstering our treatment capacity, and its conditions are exactly the same as field hospitals we have relied upon in past emergency situations, such as cyclones and other disasters. We are now in the midst of a wave of COVID-19 infections and, like most countries around the world, we have had to rapidly expand our health facilities by using these tents to care for COVID-19 patients and to ensure that all those who need beds and access to ventilators can have it. Even in developed countries, similar measures have been taken.

The Permanent Secretary says the conditions described are similar to that which is seen during all our past emergency situations when we have set up evacuation centers.

Fiji is currently recording among the highest rates in the world with the seven-day average of 1182 per million per day.

He says this rate is on the background of more than 90% of cases being from the central division.

Doctor Fong has urged Fijians to follow the COVID-19 safety protocols in place.