Lockdowns are targeted at stopping cases in the community from spreading and allowing time for screening and swabbing, says Ministry of Health permanent secretary Dr James Fong.
Dr Fong said this was a way to identify positive cases and isolate them.
“If we are to go for a longer lockdown aimed at flushing the virus from Viti Levu, then we will require a longer course of lockdown to gather data,” he said.
“At the moment, we are doing this to understand the characteristics of what is happening in Viti Levu and we are hoping that by the time we come back and we need a longer lockdown, we can be more pointed in that lockdown.
“We can be more targeted in the areas we lock down.
“This initial four days (last four days) is a phase we are trying to get as much data as possible, unfortunately, we are starting off with our Fiji CDC and once that will be sorted out, we will get them online.”
Dr Fong said, if needed, they would extend the lockdown period to get all the data they needed.
“Once we get the data, we will then talk about lengthening the lockdown if it is needed and when it would be needed.”
He said they understood the effects of socioeconomic ills in a lockdown, including its impact on gender violence and mental health, should be considered.
