Case and Transmission Update
We have three new cases of COVID-19 to report as of 12pm today. These cases are all tied to the cluster in Muanikoso, Nasinu. One case is from the same household as the other cases previously announced in Muanikoso. The other two cases are neighbours from an adjoining home.
The close proximity of the two households strongly suggests there was contact at some point, this may have been before the members of the first household began their home quarantine on May 11th. Given that these two new cases in the second household were not under a home quarantine order, we have locked down the Muanikoso area until further investigations can inform our risk assessment for the community. No one residing in the area will be allowed to leave. Those outside of the area who reside in the community will be allowed to re-enter provided they acknowledge they will not be allowed to leave.
Early contact tracing investigations into the Muanikoso cluster indicate that case 191, an Extra Supermarket employee, is the most likely source point for transmission. She had careFIJI installed with bluetooth switched on, so our contact tracing teams have digitally-logged interactions to inform their investigations. This case again reinforces the importance for all Fijians to stay home at all times. If you do have an essential reason to leave, wear a mask, maintain two metres of physical distance from others, and install careFIJI and keep bluetooth turned on.
The contact tracing stemming from case 190 (the security company driver) has identified 29 contacts. None of these contacts have been confirmed as COVID-positive.
There are now 65 active cases in isolation. We have recorded 197 cases and four deaths in Fiji since recording our first case on March 19th 2020.
Screening and Testing Update
The latest testing data will be reported once a day during the evening update.
As of this morning, 63.7% of the Fijian population have been screened for COVID-like symptoms as well as travel histories that may have exposed them to the virus. Screening will be conducted multiple times to effectively screen for COVID-like symptoms, and we ask that the public continue to cooperate with our screening teams and report to one of our 58 screening clinics across the country if they are experiencing any flu-like symptoms, such as fever, dry cough, fatigue, loss of appetite, loss of smell, or body ache.
COVID-Safe Measures
Through our extensive programme of contact tracing and testing, the lockdown areas of Makoi in Nasinu, Naira in Rakiraki, and Dokonavatu, Nanukuloa and Naiserelagi in Savoi, Ra have each gone for more than 14 days (the incubation period for COVID-19) without new cases. As a result, the borders of these lockdown areas will be lifted at 4am on 23 May 2021.
7,000 backlogged swabs were flown out to Australia on Thursday for processing, with an additional 4,000 swabs sent today. We expect that the test results will arrive early next week. Once we have this data, we will consider relaxing the borders of containment areas where we have a high degree of confidence that community transmission has been eliminated.