COVID-19 has upended Priya Devi’s life and thrust her into grief in a manner she least expected.
The 27-year-old and her mother were quarantined barely an hour after being informed that her father, Ramesh Kumar, was Fiji’s third fatality due to COVID-19 and the country’s first death from a locally-transmitted case of the virus.
An only child, she is still grappling with the heartbreaking news.
She described her father as a hardworking man who built their family home on his own.
Meanwhile, last night Health Ministry permanent secretary Dr James Fong announced:
- Four new COVID-19 cases – border quarantine case, a 47-year-old Raiwaqa Health Centre nurse and her husband, and a 25-year-old nurse at the Lautoka Hospital.
- Closure of Raiwaqa Health Centre
- A breach of the Lautoka Hospital Isolation Ward ruled out after all staff returned negative COVID-19 test results.
- The Fiji Emergency Medical Assistance Team activated – Government has dispatched the government medical carrier vessel MV Veivueti to support the healthcare management strategy within the Lautoka Containment Area.
- 129 cases in total, 84 recoveries and three deaths
- Seven doctors and 12 nurses from the Northern Division are now in the West to help with the load.
- The setting up of a 150-bed Non-COVID Field Hospital in Lautoka with plans to open in 48 hours to handle non-COVID patients with illnesses that can be treated on a 21-day time line.
