Fiji detects 1st Covid case in almost a year, imposes curfew
Sydney, Australia, Apr 19 (EFE).- Fiji, a country in the South Pacific with less than 100 Covid-19 cases, Monday ordered the confinement of some 114,000 inhabitants of the greater Nadi and Lautoka areas after recording the first infection in almost a year.
The government took the move after a woman working in a border quarantine facility tested positive for the coronavirus.
The woman contracted the virus after she got in touch with a soldier, who had tested Covid-19 positive at the facility, broadcaster FBC said.
The health ministry said the woman made several trips between Nadi, where she lives, and Lautoka, the country’s second most populated city where the government imposed a 24-hour curfew.
Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama later announced that the government had lifted the curfew.
Bainimarama said the restriction would be in place in the containment area from 11 pm to 4 am as movement and Covid-19 safe activities will be allowed.
The Prime Minister says these measures are stringent enough to minimize risk and smart enough to allow people to have some sense of normalcy in their lives.
Bainimarama said supermarkets and shops in Nadi and Lautoka could open to allow people to buy food.
The government has also allowed Banks and pharmacies to resume so that people access services, money, and medication.
The prime minister also urged the vendors and businesses to ensure strict physical distancing measures before opening their doors.
Meanwhile, all travel out of the greater Nadi and Lautoka area has been suspended.
The government of Fiji, which has recorded fewer than 80 Covid-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, including two deaths, has not specified for how long this measure will remain in place.
The last time these regions were placed under lockdown, it lasted for more than two weeks.
Fiji is an archipelago located in the South Pacific and consists of 332 islands of which 110 are inhabited.
About 70 percent of the country’s over 900,000 inhabitants live on the Viti Levu island, where Nadi, Lautoka, and Suva, the capital, are located. EFE
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