The revelation that two Fijian citizens who had travelled back into Fiji from Nigeria on November 25 have tested positive for the Omicron variant is a major concern.
Ministry of Health and Medical Services permanent secretary Dr James Fong confirmed this on Monday evening.
Last week, travellers who had arrived from an African state and were undergoing quarantine in a border quarantine facility, he said, had tested positive for COVID-19.
Dr Fong said their samples had been sent to the reference laboratory in Australia for urgent genomic sequencing and the results for the two travellers were confirmed positive for the Omicron variant.
The two travellers, he said, are Fijian citizens. They had travelled home from Nigeria, Dr Fong said, and came via Hong Kong on November 25 – the day the discovery of the Omicron variant was announced internationally.
They entered a government-designated border quarantine facility immediately upon arrival into Fiji, he said, tested positive while in quarantine, had 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,” he said.
“That has since been extended to 14 days. The four passengers on the flight who were from a travel partner country have tested negative.
“The Fiji Airways crew and accompanying passengers from FJ 1392 have tested negative at least twice.”
We are encouraged by the fact that these cases were detected in quarantine. However, it is a great concern that we now have two cases, even though they are in quarantine. Our challenge as a nation now is to ensure the status quo remains.
That will place pressure on our frontliners to maintain vigilance, and rigidly stick to every COVID-19 safety protocol. More people will arrive at our border.
That is something we must prepare for. Now that we have tourists also visiting our shores, emphasis will focus on how well we police our border and how well we are able to contain this new variant.
This obviously isn’t the time to relax our guards. It isn’t the time to be complacent. We look up to our frontliners to stay focused, and be engaged. They carry our hopes and aspirations as a nation.
On the home front, let’s remind ourselves about the importance of adhering to COVID-safe rules. Far too many people are discarding their masks. They are acting as if there is no danger. This willingness to dance with danger could negatively impact us as a nation.
Some of us are living with a false sense of security.
Let’s be aware. Let’s be careful and stay safe, for our loved ones, ourselves and for our nation.
