Fifteen more people have tested positive for coronavirus on Malolo Island, investigations into which established more cases of unauthorised travels from Viti Levu.
The new cases are from Vunabaka, all in all bringing total case numbers on the island to 17, in addition to two that were recorded in Cubi settlement.
Permanent Secretary for Health Dr James Fong said early investigations have determined that more than 20 people had recently engaged in unauthorized travel to the island from Viti Levu.
Health authorities are expecting more cases to be reported from the island.
In the meantime, a medical team from Lautoka have travelled to Malolo Island to assist the onsite medical team with the necessary response, including isolation of cases, contact tracing, and quarantine of contacts.
The 15 cases are among 255 new infections of COVID-19 report for the 24-hour period that ended at 8 am yesterday. Of the 255 cases, 138 including the Malolo Island cases are from the western division and 117 from the central division.
There have been 53 new recoveries reported since the last update, which means that there are now 19,107 active cases. Of these, 9,717 cases are in the central division, 9,254 in the western division, one case in the northern division (Nabouwalu) and 135 in the eastern division (all in Kadavu).
There have been 44,675 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021. We have recorded a total of 44,745 cases in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020, with 24,908 recoveries.
