Fiji

Health Secretary Dr James Fong announced last night that the latest cases are all linked to case number 136, the man from Saru, Lautoka, who showed Covid-like symptoms when he visited the Natabua Health centre.

Fong said the man was one of seven people who had tested positive to the virus last Friday.

"One of the new cases is his wife, another is his daughter, and the third was a primary contact of his wife," he said.

"All three have been in isolation since Saturday.

"The contact tracers are locating and quarantining their close contacts.

The cases are in Lautoka and Nadi in the west of the main island, Viti Levu, and the settlement of Makoi, near the capital Suva.

The permanent secretary of health, James Fong, urged people to stay home.

"The virus is very much present in the community," Dr Fong said.

At a news conference late on Friday night, he said people should assume there is Covid-19 in the community, with cases of unknown origin rising daily.

The government has also announced that it is taking over several hotels in Suva to use as quarantine facilities.

These include two nurses - one at Lautoka Hospital where more than 400 staff have been in quarantine since Wednesday.

The hospital has been isolated after a male patient contracted Covid-19 and died last evening.

He has become Fiji's first community case to die of the virus and health authorities have concluded that he had caught Covid-19 in the community, and not in the hospital.

The Health Ministry said the 53-year-old man, who was confirmed as Case 125 on Wednesday night, died in Lautoka on Viti Levu.

Originally admitted to Lautoka Hospital for surgery, the man from Ra Province is also suspected of being the source of transmission for two earlier COVID-19 infections.

The Health Ministry says cases 120 and 121, both doctors from the hospital, had treated the man.

Lautoka Hospital, with over 400 staff and patients, has since been closed off by the military and police.

More than 20,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine arrived in the country last week and will be administered to high-risk groups.

The rollout, which got underway in Lautoka on Monday, is targeting people with disabilities and co-morbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, heart conditions, asthma, HIV, cancer, and those on dialysis.

Essential workers are also expected to get their first jab.

But the ministry said the programme's continuation would depend on the availability of the vaccine doses.

Permanent Secretary for Health, Dr James Fong said a 25-year-old female doctor, presented at a screening clinic today with COVID-like symptoms.

She was tested positive for the virus.

Dr Fong said, the second, a 30-year-old male doctor, was tested as part of contact tracing for the first doctor.

The two doctors have been entered into isolation and their close household contacts have been quarantined.

Fijians woke today to the lifting of a snap-lockdown imposed since Saturday in Suva and surrounding towns after dozens of community cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in the community.

While there were no new cases of the virus overnight, the Health Ministry is urging the public to not let their guard down.

Health Secretary Dr James Fong said since 4am local time, the Suva-Nausori lockdown zone will revert into two separate containment areas.

He said this meant that within these containment areas, only movement for essential purposes may resume.

Last night, the ministry announced five new cases of Covid-19 infections.

The new cases come amid 605 tests being carried out in 24 hours.

The first two cases were close household contacts of previously announced cases and that both persons had tested positive while in quarantine.

Health Secretary James Fong said one of the two new cases is the wife of an earlier positive case from Nausori on Viti Levu, while the other is the man's 52-year-old aunt, who worked at a garment factory.

According to the Permanent Secretary for Health, Dr James Fong, the first two are close household contacts of previously announced cases, and they have tested positive while secure in quarantine facilities.

One is the 25-year-old wife of the case who stayed in Vunimono, Nausori and the other is his 52-year-old aunt.

Dr Fong told a press conference this evening that the third case is a former border quarantine passenger who arrived from Papua New Guinea into Nadi on Friday April 9th.

The Health Ministry said a 53 year-old caretaker from the town of Rakiraki will require further investigation into his contacts to determine whether he is linked to other Covid-19 patients.

Health Secretary James Fong said the man showed symptoms of the virus when he visited the health centre on Saturday.

Dr Fong said the man is being isolated at Lautoka Hospital.

He said the other latest case is linked to a woman who contracted the virus from her husband, a worker at the MIQ facility in Nadi.