MEDIA RELEASE: PROTOCOL FOR NATION-WIDE CURFEW

The Hon. Attorney-General and Minister for Economy Hon. Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum together with the Hon. Minister for Industry, Trade, Tourism, Local Government, Housing and Community Development, Hon. Premila Kumar on Saturday, 28 March 2020, met with industries to develop clear protocols to manage and facilitate movement of essential staff of businesses operating during the nation-wide curfew period.

As announced by the Hon. Prime Minister, in order to minimise non-essential movement of Fijians, in Fiji’s bid to contain Coronavirus (COVID-19), there will be a nation-wide curfew in place from Monday, 30 March 2020. This curfew will apply daily from 10pm to 5am.

There are industries and certain service providers that operate in a number of shifts. These businesses will be allowed to continue operations during the curfew period.

In this regard, all businesses will need to ensure all staff who are required to work during curfew hours carry the following:

(i) Company Photo ID cards, in the absence of company ID, the staff will need to carry a valid National photo ID, such as Voter ID, Joint ID or Driver’s License;

(ii) Letter on company letterhead issued to staff that they are required to work during that specific time; and

(iii) National Contact Centre telephone contact (where applicable) to verify the claims of the staff. Where there is no contact centre, a contact officer should be identified and contact details provided.

The contracted service provider, that is, taxi or bus operator, or port service providers, such as tug operators or line port service providers, to name a few, should be provided with the following:

(i) A letter from the contracting company on company letterhead that they are service providers for the company and are required to work during the curfew period; and

(iv) National Contact Centre telephone contact (where applicable) to verify the claims. Where there is no contact centre, a contact officer should be identified and contact details provided.

These measures are in place to enable business to continue without any disruptions.

For further information, please contact the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism on phone: 990 7421.

The Symptoms of COVID-19 include:

•   fever
•   flu-like symptoms such as coughing, sore throat or headaches; or
•    difficulty breathing.

The Government of Fiji remains on the highest level of alert in response to this global pandemic. We know that finding cases early and isolating them quickly is key to containing this disease. As the symptoms of COVID-19 are very similar to many other respiratory illnesses (including the common cold and influenza) it is expected that the Ministry will continue to investigate more persons with relevant travel history and symptoms related to COVID-19.

What can you do?

The Fijian Ministry of Health and Medical Services wishes to strongly urge the public to not share rumours and misinformation, and to use credible sources for information on COVID-19:

Fijian Ministry of Health and Medical Services website:

www.health.gov.fj

Fijian Ministry of Health and Medical Services Facebook page:

www.facebook.com/MoHFiji/

World Health Organization (WHO) website:

www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public

If you have been to a COVID-19 affected country in the last 14 days and develop a fever, cough or difficulty breathing immediately contact one of the numbers listed below:

Central             2219905

Eastern             2219906

Western            2219907

Northern           2219908

The Fijian Ministry of Health and Medical Services is monitoring the developing situation and will provide updates regularly to the public.