COVID-19 cases rise to 7, Capital City on lockdown

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama delivers an update on COVID-19 in Suva this afternoon. Picture: Fijian Government Facebook Page

By GERALDINE PANAPASA

The greater Suva area will be on lockdown from 5am tomorrow after two more cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) were confirmed today by the Ministry of Health and Medical Services.

Speaking at a press conference this afternoon, Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama said the 6th and 7th cases were a couple living in a Nabua settlement.

Mr Bainimarama said the lock down tactic had proven effective in containing the spread of COVID-19. For 14 days, entry and exit at checkpoints – the Delainavesi Bridge on the Queen’s Road, the Saweni junction and Nausori Bridge – will be closed off from 5am April 3.

“From tomorrow night, the 3rd of April, our nationwide curfew will now begin earlier, starting at 8pm and extending until 5am,” Mr Bainimarama said.

“If you’re travelling for work or as a result of a medical emergency, you can travel during these hours. Otherwise, don’t add your name to the ever-growing list of violators.”

Also from tomorrow, social gatherings will be banned everywhere in Fiji with the PM strongly advising people to limit their interactions entirely to those living in their households.

He said they had extended the restrictions locking down the Lautoka confined area until at least 5am on Tuesday, April 7. 

“Our sixth case is a 21-year-old woman and our seventh case is her 33-year-old husband. Again, our medical teams were well-prepared to get to these patients quickly, test them and move them securely and hygienically into isolation,” Mr Bainimarama said.

“The two individuals are a couple living together in the Nabua Settlement in Suva. The sixth patient –– the 21-year-old wife –– developed symptoms on Saturday, March 28.

“She informed the Ministry of Health on April 1. Our teams visited her home, and tested her that same day. Her partner, the 33-year-old husband reported symptoms on the 31st of March. He was tested the same day as his wife.”

Mr Bainimarama said both patients had been transported securely and hygienically in an ambulance to the Navua Hospital Isolation Ward where both were in stable condition.

He said the couple shared a home with their daughter, who was also taken into isolation while their contact tracing teams were now identifying all of their close contacts and directing them into self-quarantine. 

“We’ve identified a contact who lived at home with these two patients after returning from India as the likeliest transmitter of the virus. This person has been placed into isolation in Labasa Hospital, but we cannot comment further until testing confirms this person as the source,” Mr Bainimarama said.

Meanwhile, the first five COVID-19 patients remain in stable condition. None have been cleared as recovered.