Inbound passenger flights to Fiji suspended to review COVID quarantine processes in light of new strain

The COVID-19 Risk Mitigation Taskforce has announced the suspension of all inbound passenger flights to Fiji between Thursday, 24th December and Monday, 28th December this year.

The Ministry of Health will use this period to conduct an extensive review of its border quarantine processes in light of the discovery of a potentially more contagious strain of the Novel Coronavirus in the United Kingdom.

The Health Ministry says the situation will be reviewed during this period and may be extended.

While our current border quarantine protocols have been effective in maintaining Fiji’s COVID-Contained status for 246 days now, if this new strain of the virus is easier to transmit, it could potentially pose an increased risk of inflight transmission to other passengers.

The review will assess what steps Fiji may need to take to proactively mitigate any increased risk from this newly-discovered strain.

Exemptions may be made by the Permanent Secretary for Health for inbound travellers from countries other than those affected by this potentially contagious strain of the Novel Coronavirus. Several repatriation flights have been approved to land up to 24th December.

Any traveller on-board these flights coming from the UK, as well as passengers deemed as travelling contacts of UK-based travellers, will be identified and quarantined separately.

The Ministry has also introduced heightened transmission precautionary measures with regards to personal protective equipment used by all border frontline workers from Monday.