Health Ministry permanent secretary Dr James Fong says Fiji’s border health measures and surveillance will need to be strengthened and maintained.
He said this in a statement issued on Monday where he also announced Fiji’s first two cases of the COVID-19 Omicron variant.
Dr Fong said two travellers from an African state were confirmed positive for the variant while in quarantine.
The increasing number of COVID-19 cases in Europe and the emergence of the new variant, Omicron, is a cause for concern, says Health Ministry permanent secretary Dr James Fong.
He said Fiji’s border health measures and surveillance would need to be strengthened and maintained.
“We anticipate continued surveillance and testing in our communities and maritime islands to monitor and detect cases for early intervention,” he said.
On Monday, Dr Fong announced that the results for two travellers from an African State were confirmed positive for the Omicron variant. He said the duo were undergoing quarantine in a border quarantine facility and had tested positive for COVID-19.
Their samples had been sent to the reference laboratory in Australia for urgent genomic sequencing.
Dr Fong said the two travellers were Fijian citizens who had traveled back into Fiji from Nigeria, arriving on Fiji Airways flight FJ1392 from Hong Kong on November 25 — the day the discovery of the Omicron variant was announced internationally.
He 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.
“With the exception of four passengers, all those on the flight were from non-travel partner countries, and therefore entered a border quarantine facility upon arrival to undergo the full quarantine protocol of 10 days. That has since been extended to 14 days.”
