Kiwis will have access to Pfizer’s new antiviral treatment for Covid-19, after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed Pharmac had secured 60,000 doses.
Video / Mark Mitchell / Dean Purcell / Michael Craig
Health authorities in Fiji have confirmed two people who had arrived in the country from southern Africa last month have now tested positive for the Omicron variant.
The pair travelled to Fiji from Nigeria on November 25.
They both tested positive for Covid-19 while in a border quarantine facility.
HealthSecretary James Fong said last night their samples were sent to a reference laboratory in Australia for urgent genomic sequencing.
Dr Fong said both travellers' results were confirmed positive for the Omicron variant.
Permanent Secretary for Health, Dr James Fong. Photo / Fiji Government
"The two travellers are Fijian citizens who had travelled back into Fiji from Nigeria, arriving on Fiji Airways flight FJ1392 from Hong Kong on November 25th - the day the discovery of the Omicron variant was announced internationally," Dr Fong said.
"Both travellers tested negative for Covid-19 before departure from Fiji and before they left Nigeria.
"They entered a government-designated border quarantine facility immediately upon arrival into Fiji, tested positive while in quarantine, currently have no symptoms, and were fully vaccinated."
Fiji Airways confirmed none of its crew or staff have been given government directives to isolate.
The airline said it had strict protocols which forced all staff to undergo swabs before and after international flights.
"None of our crew are in quarantine or have tested positive to Covid-19. We understand two cases of interest have tested positive but there is no confirmation on which variant it is," Fiji Airways said in a statement.
"However, given this new threat, our staff will undergo PCR testing as a precautionary measure."
