FRIEND Fiji spends around $500,000 to assist families in Nadi and Lautoka in the last 4 weeks

FRIEND Fiji has spent almost $500,000 to provide basic needs to the affected families in Nadi and Lautoka in the last 4 weeks but adds that most of the families who could live on their savings have run out of resources.

Founder and CEO Sashi Kiran says around $100,000 was citizen contributions and donations.

Kiran says there has been no case of COVID-19 in the West for two weeks now and lockdowns should be reconsidered and provision for food should be made for at least another two weeks.

Managing Director of Tour Managers Limited Damend Gounder has also been assisting with his company vehicles and staff to reach more families who are in need.

Gounder says the situation was already alarming and the second wave of the virus and the prolonged lockdown has brought more hardships to many more people.

He says they are getting requests for assistance in large numbers on a daily basis and it will get worse if the lockdown continues.

Permanent Secretary for Health Dr James Fong says they are reviewing their restrictions in the West and North and will be making more definitive announcements in the next few days.

Dr. Fong says they have received more detailed data regarding the effectiveness of the containment measures in the Northern and Western Divisions.

Meanwhile more than 37,000 families living in the Nadi and Lautoka containment zones were assisted through government's $90 cash payment program earlier this month.

Ministry of Economy Coordinator Kamal Gounder says they have also distributed more than 5,054 food packs to families living in isolation and cordoned areas which is still continuing.