Fiji recently recorded its highest number of coronavirus cases at 83, which PS Health Dr James Fong says is an indication of a much larger portion of cases in the community that have yet to be identified.
“We expect more days of high numbers of confirmed cases. We sadly expect more hospitalizations as more severe cases of the disease develop” Dr Fong said
He also implored Fijians to take COVID19 measures seriously and not wait for a spike in cases to do so. This is after contact tracing investigations revealed that a funeral was held recently in Mulomulo, Nadi with almost a 100 people in attendance.
“That reckless gathering could potentially result in another super-spreader event. The rule is simple: Only ten people are allowed to attend a funeral. That applies before, during and after the funeral,” Dr Fong said.
Of the 83 cases, majority are from known clusters or areas already under containment or lockdown protocols, including in Waila, CWM Hospital, IMT-HQ, IMT Warehouse, Caubati, Navy, Samabula, Shop N Save Supermarket, Nawaka Nadi, and Navosai. Eleven are unlinked including new clusters reported in Naitasiri prompting the Naitasiri Containment Response Team to be stood down, and one in Tavua.
The new cases reported from Naitasiri are as follows:
- – 2 cases from Matasinasau Village, one of whom was recently discharged from CWM and one case who had moved to Tavua Village
- – 1 from Laselevu
– 1 case in the Savusavu settlement; and
– 1 case in Vuisiga Village, Vunidawa.
One (1) case was also confirmed in Tavua, a traveler who recently returned from Lautoka after the recent uplifting of the Nadi-Lautoka Containment.
Fiji has had 617 cases in the current outbreak, and 687 since its first case in March 2020. No recoveries were announced in last night’s update, which means active cases in isolation stands at 489.
