Fiji

One of the cases is classified as community transmission and the patient is the daughter of a hotel worker who was confirmed Covid-19 positive yesterday.

The hotel worker was based at a border quarantine facility.

Permanent Secretary for Health and Medical Services Dr James Fong confirmed the second community transmission case in a press conference this afternoon.

“Due to her extensive exposure with the public, this hotel staff, and now her daughter, has been the central focus of our contact tracing,” Dr Fong said.

The positive patient is a 53-year-old woman working as a maid in the quarantine facility.

In a national address Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama said a 53-year-old woman came into contact with a soldier who was tested positive for Covid-19 at the weekend.

The 53-year old woman is a first-generation contact identified through contact tracing related to the border quarantine case announced yesterday.

The woman lives in Nadi, with a travel history in Nadi and Lautoka.

All members of her household have already been entered into quarantine.

The Ministry of Health is awaiting the results of their Covid-19 tests.

To aid rapid contact tracing and reduce the likelihood of further transmission, the Government announced a lockdown of the Greater Nadi and Lautoka Area, starting from 4am this morning.

The case was confirmed just as Fiji was preparing to commemorate one year since the last case of Covid-19 outside of a border quarantine facility.

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama said yesterday they became aware of a new border quarantine case that could pose a risk of transmission beyond the border which requires immediate steps, from all of us, to mitigate.

Farid Mohammed, Digicel Fiji CEO, said; “We are delighted to be able to organise the free live screening of the highly anticipated rugby clash on Sky Pacific. A big screen will be erected at Albert Park and rugby fanatics and families are invited to come and soak the live match atmosphere and enjoy Super Rugby.”

The deceased was identified as senior nurse Warrant Officer Tomasi Dau Saumadu.

José Luis Díaz of the UN Peacekeeping Strategic Communications Department said the soldier was with the United Nations Guard Unit (UNGU) and died on March 30 in Baghdad.

“The cause of death is believed to be cardiac arrest,” he told the Fiji Times.

“As of April 2, having conducted extensive testing, we can confirm that within the Baghdad-based UNGU, there were 90 positive cases (there are 372 UNGU members).

Minister for Health, Dr Ifereimi Waqainabete said there were 1,747 dengue fever cases with five deaths.

He said there had also been 99 cases of typhoid with one death.

The minister said his ministry was positioning itself to combat the spread of such disease.

Waqainabete said natural disasters increased the intensity of the diseases and also highlighted that there were 3,019 cases of diarrhoeal disease.

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Fiji's government said it has proven itself as a safe destination for travellers during the pandemic with no cases reported for more than 320 days.

Fiji said it was ready to open its border to Australia and New Zealand and urged both countries to join Fiji's so-called Bula Bubble scheme.

But its major regional partners say the Fijians are not on the priority list for a seat on the trans-Tasman travel bubble, just yet.

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday several concerns needed to be resolved before a trans-Tasman bubble could go ahead.

This morning the International Netball Federation announced its decision to cancel the tournament which had been set to take place from 2-11 December in Suva.

The decision was made by the INF Board at a meeting on 12 March which reportedly included discussions on all the risks related to hosting the event during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

The INF said the move was made with the safety and wellbeing of participants and the Fijian population at the heart of the decision.

The vaccine rollout started on Wednesday following the arrival of 12,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine last weekend.

Since the vaccine requires two doses, 6,000 front-line workers will get the first jabs.

But the government said this could not happen until people registered to get vaccinated.

With the absence of a national identification mechanism and a digital immunisation registry in Fiji, the government said the need to have a credible registration process and an internationally acceptable vaccine passport are paramount.