Health

Omicron will not change COVID-safe protocols: Dr Fong

December 2, 2021 12:35 pm

The Ministry of Health is currently monitoring COVID-positive travelers in quarantine who arrived in the country from African states before we knew about Omicron.

Permanent Secretary for Health Doctor, James Fong, says they have been quarantined in line with the stringent measures applied to countries considered as a red zone for ongoing viral spread.

Their specimens will be forwarded this week overseas for genetic sequencing.

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“We’ve had many people come in from these countries, they have tested positive and we have had to ensure that they were non-infectious by the time they leave quarantine. Even before the arrival of omicron we’ve had travelers arriving in from Africa-Fiji citizens, they’re currently in quarantine, tested positive, now they’re gone into isolation and we’re sending off our specimen to see if it’s the variant.”

Dr Fong says the public is reminded that we will only be safe if COVID-safe measures are religiously followed and get vaccinated when it’s your turn.

“But that’s only for the purpose of recording, irrespective of what comes in, the measures that we put in remain the same.”

The new variant Omicron had already achieved global spread well before it was reported by South African scientists, establishing itself in some European countries.

These are countries that can check for the variant while other countries do not have genetic sequencing and cannot confirm cases of the variant at this time.