The April outbreak of the second wave of COVID-19 in Fiji was not handled with the urgent crisis management necessary to stop the virus from spreading beyond the breach at the quarantine facility in Nadi.
As a result, we now have an alarming number of cases every day and yet Government has not adopted a more vigorous strategy to stop the spread of this virus.
The Government thinks that coasting along, managing the flare-up in certain localities, believing we were on top of our game is sufficient; until we woke up one morning and learnt that 83 cases had been reported the previous day.
And I had asked in Parliament, “what are we going to wake up to tomorrow?”
“Well, we have been horrified with what we wake up to each morning as the number of positive cases keeps growing and no well-defined, responsive plan of action with a time frame is evident. All we get are updates of flaring numbers and constant reminders regurgitated over and over again.
“We are doing our part, but where is your comprehensive strategy to eradicate the virus form our communities and get us back to normalcy.”
As of June 10, we have recorded a total of 919 cases (of which 656 are currently active) and four deaths since the first case was reported in March 2020.
It is reported that 849 of these cases happened during the current outbreak that started in April 2021. Genomic tests in Australia have confirmed that Fiji’s outbreak is linked to the Delta variant of the virus (which was formerly known as the Indian B1617 variant).
Of the 849 cases, 523 happened in the last 10 days alone.
This followed the midnight announcement of the Prime Minister on May 30 to uplift and open up the containment areas allowing approved businesses to operate.
I said in Parliament that the Prime Minister needs to be very clear on what the FijiFirst Government plans as the way forward for Fiji in our battle against COVID-19.
I expressed my concern at what appeared to be turmoil within the ranks of Cabinet between those pushing for health first and those pulling towards opening borders for economic reasons.
I had asked the Prime Minister to reconcile these two opposing factions within his Cabinet and establish clarity.
More so, I urged that he give us a clearly, structured response strategy with defined timelines that can be monitored and verified.
The Prime Minister has clearly shown in Parliament for the world to see that he does not give a damn.
It is contemptuous to the good work of the frontline workers that the Prime Minister sides with his Minister of Economy to lift the containment restrictions and borders allowing more movement of the population and the re-opening of businesses.
With that, we have now witnessed the sharp spike in positive cases.
There should have been a strict lockdown from the 19th of April 2021 for a period of 14 days Fiji wide.
Stopping human mobility stops the virus from moving. Frontline workers would have had time, and would not have been pressured to do what they know best to do.
If a further seven days was required, they should have been given that allowance because at the end of the day, life and health matters the most.
In our neighbourhood the short and sharp approach was employed in Queensland and Western Australia; while Melbourne did the long lockdown, with 111 days.
For Melbourne, the long lockdown was very painful, but they believed it was best to remove COVID-19 from the community as anything less would mean more cost with the virus transmission in the society.
Melbourne is again on lockdown, albeit for a much shorter period, but the general consensus is to crack down early on COVID-19, going hard and fast gets the desired result.
New Zealand had an Alert Level 1 – 4 system, with clear and defined parameter of how levels kick in and what is expected from the people.
It is a system of expectation – what the government expects from citizens and what the citizens expect from their government in each alert level.
No wonder they are able to get past the red zone, even serving as the default gateway of the world to the Pacific and beyond for the time being.
What do we do in Fiji? Do we go short and sharp or go on long lockdown?
I believe that Viti Levu should now be totally locked down for 14 days.
Unfortunately, the people have had to pay for the government lax approach to this pandemic.
Our frontline workers would have the right conditions to track down all outstanding cases in our communities and have them quarantined.
Yes, there would have to be the necessary pain of the mad shop rush, but it is better to bite the bullet now than to stare down the unending pipe of a continued and sustained increased numbers of COVID-19 cases in updates from the MOH for a long period of time.
The people of Vanua Levu and the maritime zone should be fairly free and unhindered in their movements as long as it is within their locality.
Some are saying it will not normalise until November or December, or worse, we will go the way of India and Brazil.
These scenarios are unthinkable and frightening, but the manner in which COVID-19 is spreading in the Central region, should be cause for alarm and a call on the Prime Minister to give a damn about this crisis happening under his leadership.
Quite simply we bite the bullet. We do not dilly-dally. We crack down on COVID-19, going hard and fast, and that is lockdown immediately in Viti Levu.
What must be made clear is that no one is safe until everyone is safe.
Tougher days are ahead and the choices we make today, and soon, will ensure the return to normalcy, albeit a new
normal, to our country.
The longer we leave it, the worse it will become.
This Government needs to act fast and hard, and the Prime Minister needs to show up and show leadership.
- VILIAME GAVOKA is the leader of the Social Democratic Liberal Party. The views expressed are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of this newspaper.
