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Statement by Permanent Secretary for Health and Medical Services Dr James Fong.

Bula Vinaka, and good afternoon.

We have received confirmation from the Microbiological Diagnostic Unit (MDU) at the Peter Doherty Institute in Melbourne that recent cases of COVID-19 are of the B1617 variant that was first detected in India. As I mentioned yesterday, our contact tracing investigations meant that we already strongly suspected that this was the variant in question – as case 73, the soldier working in border quarantine only had contact with recent border quarantine cases who had travelled from India. This has informed our containment measures, and we have already adapted them accordingly, but I want the public to have a clear grasp of the stakes here — because the discipline and diligence of ordinary Fijians will make or break our containment of this viral variant.

This newly-confirmed COVID variant is one of several dangerous new variants that have taken root in places like Brazil, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, and in India –– which is suffering a painful fourth wave the likes of which the world has never seen.

So, we recognise exactly what we’re up against, I want to take a minute to read the media’s account of the B1617 variant’s devastation, for example, in India. As reported by the BBC:

“India is now in the grips of a public health emergency. Social media feeds are full with videos of Covid funerals at crowded cemeteries, wailing relatives of the dead outside hospitals, long queues of ambulances carrying gasping patients, mortuaries overflowing with the dead, and patients, sometimes two to a bed, in corridors and lobbies of hospitals.”

Ladies and gentlemen, we cannot let that nightmare happen in Fiji. We still have time to stop it from happening. But a single misstep could bring about the same “COVID tsunami” that our friends in India, Brazil, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States are enduring.

Stopping that tsunami depends on two major factors: You, staying at home, and us, tracing and isolating all known cases. I’ll stand before you every day to update you on the latter.

While the results from Melbourne confirmed a frightening new variant, they also confirmed that we are on the right track in our containment efforts: The genetic sequencing revealed that all of the samples sequenced so far have the same virus variant. This confirms our investigations that Case 73 (the border quarantine soldier), case 74 (the hotel worker who attended the Tavakubu funeral), and the woman from Wainitarawau in Cunningham are all within the same cluster. It also reveals that two of the recently announced border quarantine cases from the same border quarantine facility, soldiers recently returned from duties overseas, also have the same variant. This indicates transmission within that border quarantine facility.

Since yesterday’s news conference, we’ve detected six more cases of COVID-19 in Fiji. All six cases were detected among Fijians who are currently in quarantine. Four of the six new cases come from soldiers recently returned from overseas duties, some, who have been fraternising amongst each other during their 14-day quarantine in the border quarantine facility, against the rules we’ve set in place. Their quarantine period had already been extended due to suspected breaches, and unfortunately, these bad apples mean that we have to reset the clock again for all soldiers within that unit –– heroes who have already been separated from their families for far too long.

Each of these new patients tested negative –– multiple times –– before this latest diagnosis. That gives us a great level of confidence that they contracted the virus while in quarantine, very recently, from one of their colleagues. That is unacceptable.

No unnecessary, frivolous contact is worth an extra two weeks in quarantine, but that’s precisely what all of those in the Tanoa Hotel will now need to endure, under much stricter watch, as we reset the clock. Thank God we did so after learning that an earlier case had mingled among his companions –– otherwise, we’d have more cases, and more clusters, as COVID-positive soldiers returned to their families.

Out of an abundance of caution, we will also be recalling all individuals discharged from the Tanoa Hotel from 12th of April 2021 to be screened, swabbed, and tested.

In addition to this cluster of soldiers, two cases were confirmed among family members of the lady from Wainitarawau in Cunningham –– cases that, because of the highly-transmissible nature of this likely variant, we expected. These family members have been admitted in the Navua isolation unit since Wednesday April 21st and tested negative on their first 2 tests in quarantine. As they have now tested positive after 5 days in quarantine, they are not considered a transmission risk to the public.

Our six new COVID-19 patients –– all of whom are safely confined within quarantine or isolation units –– brings Fiji’s total to 109 confirmed cases since our first case was detected on March 19th 2020. We now have 42 confirmed active cases in isolation. I say “confirmed” because, as I’ve stressed before, the number of actual, undetected cases is likely higher –– and that’s precisely why, for your health and the health of your loved ones, you should be wearing a mask at all times. You must download careFIJI and keep it switched on whenever you are out of your home. When you initially download careFIJI, we top-up the data. When it is running, it uses minimal battery and does not chew your data. If you are one of the more than 600,000 Fijians with a smartphone, there is no excuse not to have it downloaded. The family from Makoi did not have the app installed or running — and that has made contact tracing far more complex than it ought to be. Lives are now at-risk as a result.

I also want to address some comments about the contact tracing stemming from the husband and wife living in Makoi.

When the wife first tested positive, and we announced her as a case on Sunday April 25th, we initially feared a case of community transmission. We knew at the time that her husband was a soldier that worked in a border quarantine facility, but we were missing some critical information.

Firstly, we did not yet have information on when he had last returned home. And we needed to have him tested. He was tested later on Sunday with his results available in the early hours of Monday morning. With his positive test result we could make that link back to a border quarantine facility. And later on Monday morning we also confirmed that he had close contact with case 73 (the first soldier who tested positive in the border quarantine facility) after testing negative on April 10th and before returning home on April 12th. We knew then that he and his wife were connected to the same chain of transmission extending from the initial soldier working in the border quarantine facility. Once we confirmed this link, we announced it yesterday, Monday April 26th.

That’s the timeline — I hope that is clear for everyone. We will continue to be transparent about what we know, when we know it. However, we cannot release information that does not have a sound evidence base and is not verified — even if that may alleviate some public anxiety. Instead, we communicate medically-verifiable information. I know the Fijian people expect nothing less.

I would also like to say that the effectiveness of our contact tracing depends upon what we are told by positive cases during our interviews with them, and the information that we get from the public when we make an appeal. If someone forgets that they had contact with a person – it will be very difficult for us to find them. Which is why, again, we ask everyone to download the careFIJI app – it will help us find contacts when a patient is not able to tell us about all their contacts.

We continue to trace, isolate, and test those who have been in contact with our current patients –– a push that depends heavily on self-identification. While most of Fiji is safely at home, my teams are also taking full advantage of this containment window. More than 93,000 Fijians in Cunningham, Lautoka, Nadi, Wainivula, Caubati, Tacirua, and Makoi have been checked for COVID-like symptoms and travel histories that may place them in the path of Fijian living with COVID-19. We have more than 120,000 Fijians left to screen in these areas, and we need as many Fijians at home as possible to do that job well.

Our contact tracing is designed to flush out cases before they become clusters. This strategy has served us well before — but it is not infallible. There are gaps — particularly when it comes to identifying passengers on public transportation — any one of those gaps could become the source of an outbreak. Again, careFIJI app can close those gaps, but only if you have it installed and you keep it on.

House-to-house screening, as well, may reveal some of these outbreaks-in-waiting — but to screen thoroughly, we must take this effort on as a society. There are more than 40 screening clinics open throughout Fiji, every Fijian should know which clinic is closest to them. And if you feel unwell, go get screened. If you know someone who is unwell, take them to be screened. Or stay home and call 158 so our teams can check on you. The full list of screening clinics is on the Fijian Government Facebook page. If we follow this advice, I promise you, one or more of these clinics will save lives.

My team is fielding a number of requests from businesses and organisations seeking exemptions from our containment measures. We know how tough of a time this is for many businesses. But we have been clear — and we will continue to be clear — that we at the Ministry are in the business of stomping out this virus and saving lives.

Our restrictions are designed for that purpose. Not every policy will make everybody happy. But the spirit behind them is perfectly clear: We have to keep Fiji safe. We have to limit movement. We have to stop every unnecessary person-to-person interaction possible.

My message to every Fijian is this: Now is not the time to go looking for loopholes. If we don’t win this fight over the next two weeks and this outbreak gets out of control — the prospects for jobs, micro, small and medium enterprises, entire industries, and our economy as a whole could fall into much more dire straits.

I have explained at great length how this virus travels. It can travel through the air and through tiny droplets that pass from person-to-person within a close distance –– droplets that, if left unmasked and non-distant –– are proven killers.

Just because our officials may not be looking, does not mean the virus cannot travel to you. Protecting yourself and your family means denying this virus any opportunity to spread. Any person-to-person contact outside of your household could get you infected.

Don’t take the chance. Most importantly, you should stay at home –– it’s the easiest, and most foolproof, way you can slow the spread. Stay home. Save the country from a deadly wave of infection. If you see a breach of our measures happening, I’m asking you to take it personally — because it could very well be you or someone in your family who suffers from the irresponsibility of others. Call the Police or call number 158 and report it. It is your duty as a Fijian to do so.

Media Release                                                                 

COVID-19 Update

Monday April 26th 2021

As announced by the Permanent Secretary for Health and Medical Services today, we have 12 new cases to report.

The first case is a soldier working in a border quarantine facility, and is the roommate of case 73, the first border quarantine soldier announced to have been infected by the virus on Sunday April 18^th. This new case had tested negative on his first test, and does not pose a transmission risk to the public as he has been contained within the government quarantine facility since Sunday April 18^th, and tested positive now after 7 days in quarantine.

Four of the new cases are close contacts of the hotel quarantine staff who travelled to the funeral in Tavakubu. The 4 tested negative when they entered quarantine but have now tested positive. This indicates that they were not infectious while in the community.

The next seven new cases are related, and are all close household contacts of the 29-year old female from Makoi who we revealed yesterday was potentially our first case of community transmission. By community transmission we mean a case that cannot be linked to other cases or to international travel. As mentioned yesterday, finding a case of community transmission is of great concern, because it indicates that an outbreak is widespread and uncontrolled, with a devastating outbreak imminent. However, further investigation has revealed that the infected woman’s husband is a 30-year old soldier who works in a border quarantine facility in Nadi, and he has tested positive. As per protocol this soldier was tested for the virus on April 10^th before being released to return home to Suva on April 12^th, and he had tested negative. We can confirm that, between the negative test result on April 10^th and returning home on April 12^th, he had close contact with case 73, the border quarantine soldier who had also tested negative on 10^th April and likely got infected shortly after swabbing. Unfortunately this soldier, who is the husband of the Makoi case, came into contact with case 73, before case 73 was found to be positive.

The entire family was transferred to a government supervised quarantine facility yesterday.

Establishing this link between the Makoi case back to case 73 means that this case will now be re-classified as a case of local transmission, and not community transmission.

With these latest cases there are now 36 active cases in isolation. Five are older border quarantine cases announced before Sunday April 18th. Nine are recently announced border quarantine cases, and 22 are locally transmitted cases.

Fiji has had 103 cases in total, with 65 recoveries and 2 deaths, since our first case was reported on March 19^th 2020. 63 of these cases have been international travel associated cases detected in border quarantine. 22 cases reported since Sunday April 18^th are our first locally transmitted cases in over 1 year.

A total of 48,167 COVID-19 laboratory tests have been conducted, with a daily average of 738 tests per day over the last 7 days. Daily testing has increased in line with the response to the recent local cases, with 737 tests conducted yesterday. Our overall test positivity is 0.2% and our 7 day average daily test positivity is 0.7%.

Statement by Permanent Secretary for Health and Medical Services Dr. James Fong.

Yesterday we recorded four new cases of COVID in Fiji. Two of those cases are in Nadi, one in Lautoka and one in Makoi, Suva. Three of the cases involved persons who attended the funeral that we have identified as a super-spreader event, including a husband and wife who circulated through the community. They were placed in quarantine on Friday, and the Ministry of Health is tracking their movements and contacts for the five days before they went into quarantine.

Regarding the Makoi case, we are not certain of the source of her infection, but the Ministry of Health is busy doing contact tracing to determine who she may have been in contact with before or after she was infected. She and her husband have been placed in quarantine, but prudence requires us to treat this case as a possible community transmission.

Because we cannot yet pin down the movements of these people and identify all their contacts, we are forced to take strict precautionary measures against the possibility that the virus has spread within the Lami- Suva Nausori areas and within the Nadi-Lautoka area. Once we receive further information regarding the Makoi case, there will be appropriate variations to these measures.

We have experienced this situation before, so it should be familiar to everyone. Our purpose is to keep people from circulating unnecessarily. If people don’t move, the virus won’t move.

Beginning at 4:00 a.m. Monday, when the curfew period ends, and for the next 14 days, the greater public will not be allowed in or out of the following containment zones. — -Lami- Suva Nausori areas. For a period of 14 days, we will be closing off exits at the following checkpoints, starting from 4 am tomorrow morning, the 26^th of April: beginning from Wainadoi to Tamavua- I- Wai–Tamavua-I- Wai to 8 Miles bridge, — 8 Miles bridge to Logani Village on Kings Road. Similarly, the Nadi-Lautoka will be divided into two zones—Nadi Zone will begin from Momi Junction to Lomolomo Police Post and from Lomolomo Police Post to Nacilau. The current free movement between Lautoka to Nadi will no longer be allowed.

Only persons traveling for medical purposes will be allowed through checkpoints.

All non-essential businesses must remain closed.

Supermarkets and shops selling food and other essential items will remain open so that people can buy these essential items within their respective containment zones. Similar to other essential services, markets will remain open only in and for the respective containment zones. Pharmacies will also remain open. The point is, food and essential goods will remain on the shelves of our shops, markets, and supermarkets. Do not run to the supermarkets and bulk buy goods this afternoon – doing so will crowd these stores and put every shopper at risk.

Restaurants can remain open but only for takeaway and delivery orders within and for the containment zones.

Limited banking services will be available, as will FNPF and FRCS.

Public transportation within the different zones will be available but limited to 50% seating capacity.  We have made arrangements through LTA for this to be practically implemented.

Civil service employees will be authorized to work from home at the discretion of their respective Permanent Secretaries

Essential businesses will remain open, as they did during our lockdown period last year. That list includes air and rescue services, air traffic control services, ports services, civil aviation, telecommunication services, food, and sanitary manufacturing plants, electricity services, emergency services, fire services, health, and hospital services, lighthouse services, meteorological services, mine pumping, ventilation and winding, sanitary services, supply and distribution of fuel and gas, power, telecommunications, garbage collection, transport services, water and sewage services, FNPF and FRCS, civil service, private security services, and roading services. If your business is not on this list, close it down.

The ports of Lautoka and Suva will remain open for international freight shipping and inter-island cargo shipping.  Any inter-island passenger travel from the ports of Suva, Denarau, Vuda, and Lautoka remain prohibited. We will implement the previous Agriculture Marketing Authority arrangements to get food and produce into the respective containment zones. At all checkpoints, suppliers can arrange with a police driver to ensure that produce still comes into the respective containment zones, and we don’t let the virus escape the containment zones.

Employers in the listed essential businesses need to arrange a permission document for their employees in order to pass through the checkpoints, as was the case during the previous lockdown.  Employers should also try and make arrangements for their critical workers to move into the zones for the 14 day period. Please contact 158 to acquire the permission documents which are your passes. The Fiji Police Force will efficiently facilitate responses.

For employees, if there is no branch of your company which you can report to in your containment zones, please contact your employer. For those who cannot attend work at all because of the set-up of the containment zones, they will be able to access 220 dollars a fortnight from their FNPF. If funds are insufficient, the government will top up the accounts.

Even within the respective containment zones, residents are again advised to avoid large social gatherings, particularly indoors.

Stay home. Your interactions should be limited entirely to those already living in your households. If you’re missing a friend or loved one, do the safe thing and call them on the phone. If you need to walk around or exercise you may do so, but wear masks and maintain social distance when you must be out.  It is particularly important to download the careFIJI app and keep your phone Bluetooth turned on. And wash your hands regularly. We were approaching the finish line, and we’ve had a setback. Let’s get back on track–together.

We are taking these early measures to prevent the spread of this virus throughout the country. We have done great work together to keep Fiji safe so far, and we have seen how opportunistic this virus is. One small, innocent lapse or a careless attitude to our health measures by one person can start a chain of infection that can spread rapidly and sicken thousands. Fortunately, we have the knowledge, the infrastructure, the people, and the Will to stop it. So I urge all Fijians to keep making this effort. Adhere to these health protocols. These protocols will be implemented and enforced by our health and police officials. These new protocols will be gazetted today.

I’m confident the vast majority of people watching know we cannot afford to lose the war against this virus. I know most Fijians are following and respecting the rules we’ve put in place – but too many still aren’t. So, if you’ve been thinking that this virus isn’t your problem, or that somehow your behavior hasn’t needed to change- get a grip. This virus is here and it is serious. Anyone anywhere could be a carrier. If people follow the government’s directives, we will lock this virus down and win this war. If people don’t, many people will die. It is just that simple.

Report any symptoms you’re feeling as soon as they develop by calling our COVID-19 Call Centre on toll-free number 158. Stop sharing bilos and takis. Stop shaking hands, touching and embracing. Wash your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds, multiple times a day. But we must take every day one at a time, not as a reason for despair but as an opportunity for containment. Our greatest hope is in the hands of every Fijian; please for the fate of our country and those we love, do what we’ve directed you to do. Don’t let this opportunity go to waste.

Media Release                                                                   

COVID-19 Update

Sunday, April 25th, 2021

As announced by the Permanent Secretary for Health and Medical Services today, we have 4 new cases of COVID-19. The first case is a 30-year-old female known close contact of case 74 (hotel quarantine worker case) who has been in quarantine since Monday 19^th April. She tested negative on her first test upon entering quarantine and has now tested positive after 4 days in quarantine.

The next 2 cases are a couple, a 52-year-old male and a 51-year-old female, who attended the funeral at Tavakubu together on April 16^th and 17th and had contact with case 74. They were transferred into a government-supervised quarantine facility on Thursday, April 22^nd after developing symptoms. Their movement between the funeral and when they were transferred into the quarantine facility is currently the subject of contact tracing investigations.

The 4^th case is a 29-year-old female from Makoi in Nasinu. Her link to the current cluster of local cases is not yet clear and investigations are ongoing. At this stage, she is being considered a case of community transmission (a case with no known link to other cases or international travel) pending further investigation. Please refer to the Permanent Secretary’s statement today for more information.

With this latest case, there are now 24 active cases in isolation. Five are older border quarantine cases announced before Sunday, April 18th. Nine are recently announced border quarantine cases, and 10 are locally transmitted cases.

Fiji has had 91 cases in total, with 65 recoveries and 2 deaths, since our first case was reported on March 19^th, 2020. 63 of these cases have been international travel-associated cases detected in border quarantine.

A total of 47,430 COVID-19 laboratory tests have been conducted, with a daily average of 653 tests per day over the last 7 days. Daily testing has increased in line with the response to the recent local cases, with 1007 tests conducted yesterday. Our overall test positivity is 0.2% and our 7-day average daily test positivity is 0.5%.

-ENDS-

Statement by Permanent Secretary for Health and Medical Services Dr James Fong.

Bula Vinaka, everyone.

We’ve run another 828 tests since yesterday with 1 new positive result. This is a new locally transmitted case of COVID-19. The patient is the 14-year-old daughter of the hotel staff who has been the central focus of our contact tracing. This daughter did travel with her mum to the funeral at Tavakubu on April 16th and 17th –– however she had no symptoms and tested negative when entered into quarantine on Sunday, April 18th. And now she has tested positive at day 4 of quarantine. This indicates that she was entered into quarantine before she became infectious. Let me explain: We know that this virus has an incubation period of up to 14 days. So a person may take up to 14 days to have enough virus in their bodies to develop symptoms or trigger a positive test result. Importantly, the level of virus that becomes detectable on a test also relates to how infectious that person is at the time. If someone has no symptoms and tests negative in the community, it is very unlikely that they were infectious, even if they later test positive during the 14-day quarantine period.

So we now have 6 locally transmitted cases that can all be traced back to the soldier who caught the virus while working in a border quarantine facility. 3 of these latest local cases were not infectious while they were in the community, we know this because they had no symptoms at the time, and were negative on their first test when they entered quarantine. It was only on their second test in quarantine that they tested positive.

Apart from the 6 locally transmitted cases, we have 14 from border quarantine. So we now have 20 active cases in isolation,

Our teams across Viti Levu have told us they are seeing a notable increase in mask-wearing among members of the public. That is great news and it means a great deal to us at the Ministry to see so many Fijians share our mission to keep Fiji safe. Our masks –– when we wear them properly–– are badges of compassion and concern for those around us. Homemade or store-bought, wearing masks lets our doctors, nurses, lab technicians, and members of our disciplined forces all know that –– through the long days and sleepless nights –– we are not alone in our work to stop the spread of COVID-19, the nation is with us; you are with us. And we will defeat this outbreak together.

Remember the guidance we have announced and published for homemade masks — it requires at least two layers of cloth for these masks to offer protection. We’ve announced that before, I just want to remind everyone again. Some people have asked about mask-wearing in their own personal vehicles. If you are alone in your personal vehicle, or with other members of your household, you do not need to wear a mask. But when you exit the vehicle, please place one on.

There is a nationwide curfew between 11 pm and 4 am every night. As announced yesterday, we are asking for restricted movement outside of the curfew hours from 7 pm tonight until 11 pm on Sunday evening. That means everyone should stay in their homes and only spend time with members of their household. It’s important that you do because my teams are going to use that window to conduct health screenings in targeted regions throughout Viti Levu. Health officials will also be checking Fijians for COVID-like symptoms and making sure they have not had contact with someone who was contagious for the virus.

During this window of restricted movement, businesses such as supermarkets and pharmacies may open at the discretion of their management. Public transportation may run, with mask-wearing enforced.

No other workplaces should open. So, save for shopping for food or medicine, or traveling for a medical emergency, there are no other reasons to leave your home. If you are out and about without an essential reason, the police will ask you to go back to where you reside. As we’ve seen before, this brand of early, decisive action is key to saving lives –– but it only works well when the public works with us. So please stay home as much as possible. Again, please remember that the normal curfew hours from 11 pm to 4 am are still in effect.

As I’ve said before, if these protocols are not followed, I will have to recommend lockdown measures for entire towns and cities.

There are still too many unknowns to determine how long the rest of our health restrictions will remain in place. More tests must be run; more time must be given to confirm that the virus is not lurking in some communities. If the numbers point to a wider outbreak, we won’t hesitate to escalate our response. But what we do know is that by staying home, you give us a much better chance at stopping the spread. If you are watching this from home, wonderful. If you aren’t, please start making arrangements to head home now. We’re urging businesses to close up shop well before 7pm so that staff and customers have time to head home. And remember, if you are heading home using public transportation –– wear a mask, and wear it properly.

The members of the media here today and around the country have a special responsibility in carrying these messages to the public. I hope the media have taken note by now: Reporting the facts is more important than reporting first. When you are in these briefings, please listen carefully to what I am saying. Our strategy is based on science. It carefully harnesses the resources at our disposal, and targets them where they can make the greatest difference. If you have a question about something I have said, ask it. Don’t put words in my mouth or ask me what you may wish I had said –– all that does is confuse well-meaning members of the public.

I was a bit disturbed by a couple of tweets that went out from a reporter who freelances for a number of media organizations outside of Fiji. Yesterday the reporter posted an incorrect tweet saying Fiji would be under a nationwide curfew starting tonight. That was wrong. We asked her to remove that tweet. Thankfully, she did. An apology tweet was posted however it also stated that the police would arrest people who were out without an essential reason which was misleading. During the window of restricted movement, the Fiji Police will be asking people to stay home. That is where we want you, at home.

I know that as a nation we can rise to meet this challenge. Most of us are abiding by the protocols we have in place. The vast majority of Fijians are doing the right things. But we have had a few instances of rule-breaking. After we established Moturiki Island as a screening zone, a gentleman was picked up on Ovalau after he swam across the channel. He’s with the Police now, and he won’t be swimming anywhere for the next 14 days until he is cleared from the screening zone. I know that may be funny to some people, but it is a real problem for our health officials. The nature of this pandemic can induce anxiety in a lot of people. It is a scary time, but don’t let that fear drive you towards bad decision-making. I want everyone watching to know, if my teams are in your community, they are there because they care. They care about you, they care about your family, they care about keeping our country safe. So please offer whatever cooperation and assistance that you can.

Today I was sent some awesome photos of food items –– donated by Mr Billy Singh of Kundan Singh –– being delivered to the families within the screening zone at Wainitarawau Settlement. Hotels –– like the Tanoa and the Crow’s nest –– have supported our surgical teams working in Sigatoka and Rakiraki. The Holiday Inn has helped provide meals and catering to our health officials. I want to thank Women in Business and the Fiji Chamber of Commerce and Industry for reaching out to their members — and to other businesses — to adhere to our health protocols. I make special mention of Tanoa Hotel. They have been with us from the very beginning and have supported us in many different ways. I hope to see other business organizations step up and do the same.

There are other operators out there aiding us at every turn. And across the country, small gestures of solidarity are taking place every day, most of which occur with little fanfare. Big or small, there is something all of us can do to ease the burden of this outbreak on those worst affected. This is a national team effort –– we’re all working to overcome the same mountain of adversity for the benefit of every family, business, and industry in Fiji, as well as the Fijian economy. So, if you are a business, and you know of some way you can help us, please call 158.

As I had announced, we are deploying COVID-19 vaccines to targeted groups in the West and Suva. As of this morning, we have begun administering vaccines to Parliamentary staff and Members of Parliament. Members of the media as well are being called to come forward to be vaccinated. I hope by this time next week, you’ve all joined us in receiving your first dose.

To the rest of Fiji: Stay safe, stay home, and, if you have an essential reason to leave the house, mask up!

Thank you.