With close to 8000 high-risk contacts placed in quarantine, the Suva-Nausori lockdown will be lifted at 4 am tomorrow and revert to two separate containment zones, but Nadali in Nausori has been cordoned off after four more cases were recorded in the area.
This is the third time, since the 101-hour lockdown period of the greater Suva-Nausori zone came into effect Friday, that cases have been recorded in Nadali – one reported on Saturday 15 May, four the following day on Sunday and four more today for a total of 9 cases.
Authorities have deemed the area as a source of widespread COVID19 transmission and as such directed that no one leaves the area until everyone has been screened, swabbed and cleared.
“Those who need to return to the area may do so provided they do not leave,” Dr Fong said.
He also said that the decision to uplift the Suva-Nausori lockdown stem from having quarantined contacts deemed high-risk numbering 7,888.
“For every hour of the past four days, my teams have combed through Suva and Nausori to trace and test primary and secondary contacts of existing cases of COVID-19. As a reminder for everyone, these “contacts” are people who had interactions with individuals who have tested positive for the virus and may have passed it to them. It was important that we find these people so we could test them and ensure they do not pose a wider risk of transmission to our communities. Thanks to the use of careFIJI, we found many of the contacts quickly. Others have required more in-depth investigations to find. In total, we have placed 7,888 contacts in Suva and Nausori under quarantine. This is the largest number of active contacts we have ever identified.”
Suva and Nausori will revert to two separate containment zones while the newly implemented curfew hours of 4am to 6pm will remain enforced for the whole of Viti Levu.
“Supermarkets may open. Banks may open. Pharmacies may open. Restaurants may offer takeaway and delivery services only. Save for these purposes, movement should be avoided as much as possible, and mixing between different household bubbles should not happen at all,” Dr. Fong said.
Meanwhile, regarding the two patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit yesterday, he said that they are both responding well to treatment and are being well looked after by the attending doctors.
