The Ministry of Health has not ruled out the possibility of community transmission on the island of Kadavu given the clinical details of the case in Rakiraki Village, Yale, says permanent secretary Dr James Fong.
He said the cases linked to those that allegedly made unauthorised travel between Kadavu and Suva were a concern.
“To help with our public health containment measures, shipping services to and from Kadavu have been suspended for the week commencing 19th of August to the 26th of August 2021,” Dr Fong said.
“A 14-day containment zone has been established for the Gasele Nursing Zone in Kadavu.
“Further to this, a clinical scouting team will be deployed over this weekend to assist our health team in Kadavu in mapping out a plan to escalate clinical care capability and strengthen care access, especially to the identified vulnerable persons.
“The Ministry of Health and Medical Services reiterates its call for maritime islanders not to engage in unauthorised travel to and from Viti Levu and all our current protocols to regulate domestic movements must be adhered to in order to prevent the spread of the virus beyond Viti Levu.”
While delivering the Northern update, Dr Fong said Friday marked the third day for the enforcement of the Nabouwalu containment zone.
“Day 4 tests for all except two primary contacts of the case reported from Nabouwalu have returned negative.
“Results of the remaining two primary contacts are pending, meanwhile, the health service set up at the Immaculate Junior Secondary School is working well while health teams from Labasa Hospital are travelling daily to Bua Nursing Station and Lekutu Health Centre to provide health services to the community outside the containment zone and border controls at Nabouwalu and all other Northern ports have been reinforced.”
On Friday a total of 46 COVID cases were recorded on Kadavu while one was recorded at Nabouwalu.
