Two members of a shipping vessel have been isolated at the Navua Hospital for COVID-19 treatment.

Two members of a shipping vessel have been isolated at the Navua Hospital for COVID-19 treatment.

Permanent Secretary for Health Dr James Fong confirms they are non-Fiji citizens and had arrived in Fiji on the 2nd of this month onboard the MV Island Chief to deliver cargo.

They then sailed to Suva before leaving for  Samoa.

Dr Fong says all crew members on the vessel had tested negative during a crew exchange in New Zealand before sailing for Fiji, however a pre-departure test in Fiji returned positive results.

Once in Fiji waters, 21 Fijian officials including customs officers boarded the MV Island Chief for document exchange.

All 21 have been placed in quarantine and authorities are conducting contact tracing for casual contacts.

Dr Fong says the results are weak positive for COVID-19 indicating that the two patients are at the end term of COVID-19.

No crew member aboard the ship disembarked the vessel at any time.

As a safety precaution, and to reduce the number of people coming into the CWM and Lautoka hospitals the two facilities will be operating on reduced activities.