“Please help us”. This public plea for people to listen to health advisories was made by the Ministry of Health’s head of health protection Dr Aalisha Sahukhan after three Fiji Centre for Disease Control (CDC) staff members tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday.
She said the issue was a personal matter for her since these cases involved her team, and she shared how in ordinary times she would have been with her team at the laboratory at the Mataika House in Tamavua, Suva.
“The only reason that I could be away from my team for so long is because they are a wonderful team and they go above and beyond operating like this for a year now,” she said.
“I am not at CDC but they are in my thoughts and for all watching tonight, for the sake of healthcare workers including Fiji CDC team, please listen to advice, please wash your hands with soap and water, please stay home, please wear a mask if you leave the house and download the careFiji app if you have a smart phone.
“We may not do everything perfectly every time but believe me we are doing all our best to help you. Please help us.”
Dr Sahukhan said more cases appearing in the communities without links to other cases indicated things would get worse before they got better.
Meanwhile, Health Ministry permanent secretary Dr James Fong said the CDC staff were initially not accommodated on site. He said safety measures were being heightened in a bid to stem further cases from happening.
“They have moved into CDC after it was decontaminated,” he said.
“They will accommodate on site and work in shifts.” When quizzed on how often lab staff were tested, he said they were regularly tested.
“They do the tests every four days and work like Lautoka is doing until the bubble is proved negative.”
