PM urges Fijians in the containment area in Nadi and Lautoka to wear masks

Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama advises Fijians in the containment area in Nadi and Lautoka to wear masks as it’s the one thing that may be most important in stopping the spread of COVID-19.

Bainimarama says masks are absolutely proven to protect yourself and others from contracting COVID, so we need each of you to urgently pick up this habit.

He says he knows that, for the past year, we have had the luxury of not needing to put on masks every day, like billions of others have around the world.

But he says today, that needs to change. Bainimarama also says he can’t stress this enough, that everyone needs to download the careFIJI app on their phones if you can.

He says situations like the current COVID case are exactly why they created the careFIJI app, and it’s use now is more critical than ever before.

The Prime Minister says social distancing has been ignored, masks have gathered dust tucked away in drawers, and businesses went back to operating as usual.

He says the healthy habits that we learned 12 months ago were all but forgotten.

But over the course of the past year, the science has become even more clear that mask-wearing and physical distancing is absolutely essential to stop the virus from spreading.

Bainimarama says now, more than ever, we need every woman, man, and child, and every business of every size, to go back to following that proven rule book.

He says that is why they are enforcing the same, strict containment measures that have proven successful in the past, and it’s why their contact tracing team is working overtime to identify and isolate every known contact of this latest case.

The Prime Minister says we need every Fijian to do their part to contain this virus, and each and every one of you can help them again defeat this disease.

They are also re-activating the network of screening clinics across the country to keep those with COVID-like symptoms away from vulnerable people who visit health centres and into separate, dedicated spaces specially designed to effectively identify possible COVID-19 cases.

If you have a fever, or any symptoms, like a dry cough or a loss of taste, visit one of these clinics immediately.

As of today, 24,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines will be arriving through the COVAX facility.

Permanent Secretary for Health, Dr James Fong will be announcing the details of their vaccine deployment soon.

Please call 158 if you are feeling unwell.