Covid-19: Fiji National Blockade

The Fijian government has taken the most drastic steps since Covid-19 struck the country in March last year.

Most of the country is closed from 8 pm to 4 am local time Monday.

It is in the midst of new Covid-19 cases confirmed by the Ministry of Health, bringing the total number of active cases to 50 and 29 locally infected.

Points inside and outside Suva are blocked by police
Photo: Fiji police

Authorities have escalated measures in businesses that are not allowed to operate for 56 hours.

Containment measures have also been rushed around the capital Suva to track the Indian variant of Covid-19.

Tonight, the Ministry of Health ordered everyone indoors from 8 pm in fear of the B16-17 variant spreading throughout the community.

There are currently 117 Covid-19 cases in Fiji, 65 have recovered and 2 have been reported dead.

The ministry warned that a 52-year-old woman in Nowsolitown, who had been positive over the past 48 hours, could have exposed 887 garment factory employees to the virus.

At the same time, Health and Welfare Secretary Dr. James von said at a media conference that further spread of Covid-19 from Fijian returnees who were negative before interacting with the quarantine before extensive travel to Suva. He said he was concerned.

According to Fong, the man was cleared of the virus, but was recalled to quarantine because of concerns that he might have been infected with the virus by soldiers in a facility that had a friendly relationship with others while in quarantine. ..

Meanwhile, Fong confirmed the new incident. She is the wife of a man from Ra and is still blocked.

The couple’s source of infection is not yet related to the current case, which began when quarantine soldiers were infected with the virus from two Fijians returning from India on April 10-12.

While announcing the blockade, Fong said the measures escalated after they tested more than 1,000 Fijians overnight and found another positive.

“There are some urgent developments to cover that require immediate changes to our containment strategy,” Fong said.

“Our contact tracing, derived from Case Number 113 (a garment factory worker), is in full swing. There are two factories we are focusing on.”

A medical examination is underway in Fiji to fight Covid-19.
Photo: Facebook / Fiji Government

According to Fong, one of the factories is Lindhurst, the factory where women worked. The other is Mark One Apparel Factory.

“Employees at these factories use the same transportation provided by the company to get in and out of work, so we treat both of these factories as potential sources of further communication.”

After an overnight screening effort, the government still had to test hundreds of factory employees.

Dr. Fong said travel was not allowed except for emergency medical trips, as there is no more wasted time finding the rest of the exposed people at the factory.

“To help my team find these Fijians quickly, we will lock down the Suva and Nausori containment zones from 2000 hours tonight to 0400 hours on Monday morning.

“No one should leave the house. No one, parents, earners, children, or anyone in the closed area should leave the house.

“The police will enforce that movement restriction.”

In light of the short notice of the blockade, which was announced just 30 minutes before the blockade came into force, the government organized food packs to be delivered to those in need.

“If you live in a closed area and need access to this emergency food supply, you can call toll-free 161 from 9am tomorrow. Please wait. We will answer your call.”

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health subsequently sent specimens to Melbourne to identify the origin of the Ra cluster and was unable to link to the B16-17 cluster.

The ministry said it would consider a blockade on Sunday.

There are currently 117 Covid-19 cases in Fiji, of which 50 have been locally infected, 65 have recovered and 2 deaths have been reported.

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Photo: Facebook / Fiji Government

Next 56 hours:

* No one should leave the house in the blockade zone-not parents, earners, children.

* Police will enforce the movement restrictions.

* Without ministry approval, you can only leave your home for emergency medical care.This exemption includes patients on renal dialysis

* Companies such as supermarkets, banks and pharmacies cannot open.

* Some important services such as water, electricity, ports and private hospitals are allowed to operate with the permission of the ministry. The ministry will work directly with key service providers on these arrangements.

* Delivery across the boundaries of the blockade zone will also be put on hold as markets and supermarkets will not open.

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Photo: Facebook