Red Cross volunteer Taraivini Kabuta shares information about Covid-19 transmission with a family in Uciwai Settlement, Nadi. Photo / Fiji Red Cross
Red Cross volunteer Taraivini Kabuta shares information about Covid-19 transmission with a family in Uciwai Settlement, Nadi. Photo / Fiji Red Cross
Fijian health officials are bracing for a "tsunami" of cases after the Indian variant has been confirmed in the country.
The permanent secretary for health and medical services, James Fong, said the situation in India showed the threat posed by the strain could not be underestimated.
"We cannot let thatnightmare happen in Fiji," Fong said in a televised address.
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"We still have time to stop it happening but a single misstep will bring about the same Covid tsunami that our friends in India, Brazil, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States are enduring."
A community outbreak in the country's capital and surrounding areas has sparked a two-week lockdown.
The cluster began when a soldier contracted the virus at a quarantine facility and transmitted it to his wife, who was then exposed to people at a funeral.
So far there are 24 locally transmitted cases in Fiji and 18 border quarantine cases.
Since March 2020, Fiji has recorded 109 Covid-19 cases and two deaths.
Efforts to restrict the spread of the B. 1.617 variant, which originated in India, haven't been enough to prevent its detection in at least 10 other countries, including Britain and the US.
The sooner we embrace the role we all must play in stopping the spread; the sooner we all adhere to good habits, like mask-wearing and good hand hygiene, physical distancing; and the more time we all spend at home; the sooner Fiji will triumph over this virus once again. pic.twitter.com/bDy9dhSdGs
