95% of the contacts of the garment factory worker screened and tested, 611 tested negative so far – Dr Fong

Permanent Secretary for Health, Doctor James Fong says 95 percent of the 877 contacts of the garment factory worker have been contacted, screened, and swabbed, including all of her closest contacts who shared her bus and worked in close proximity to her at the factory in Kalabu.

He says they will all remain under home quarantine for at least 14 days from their last contact with the case.

611 have tested negative for COVID-19 so far with more samples being tested.

Doctor Fong says with everyone safely at home during the Suva Nausori lockdown, the Health Ministry contact tracing teams worked through the torrential rain this weekend to identify the contacts of case 113, the garment factory worker.

He also says after another 1,212 tests and 7560 community screenings, they have no new cases of COVID-19 to report in Fiji.

Doctor Fong says he knows many may have cheered, or felt excited, when he said but no confirmed cases, at this stage, is no reason for celebration.

He says it does not mean there are no cases out there; it means none have been detected over the past 24 hours.

The Permanent Secretary says they are certain there are more cases that will develop or worryingly that an unconfirmed case of the virus has already developed into a highly-contagious disease.

He says their biggest fear right now is that someone, with symptoms, has not reported to a screening clinic or called 158.

Doctor Fong also says this virus arrives in waves.

He says a lull can often signal a surge so let’s not let one day of no new cases fool anyone into thinking this storm is over.