A nine-year-old girl is Fiji’s latest case of COVID-19, bringing Fiji’s number to 16.
The patient is the granddaughter of case number 9 — the 57-year-old man who recently returned from a religious gathering in New Delhi, India.
Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama said the young girl from Soasoa settlement in Labasa was among the 32 people tested for COVID-19.
She was the only one whose test returned positive.
“She has been in isolation since the 4th of April,” Mr Bainimarama said yesterday.
“While she wasn’t showing any symptoms, we knew she had a high risk of being infected given her close contact with her grandfather. We had her tested and she was confirmed positive late this morning (yesterday).”
Mr Bainimarama said given the length of time the young girl spent in isolation, and the fact that she wasn’t showing symptoms, her risk of infecting others was extremely low.
“This is the sixth confirmed case stemming from the gentleman in Labasa — and it once again goes to show how long and dangerous a chain of transmission can grow if our public health directives are blatantly ignored.”
