25 Feb 2021

Another Covid-19 case at Fiji's border

11:19 am on 25 February 2021

Fiji has recorded a Covid-19 case in border quarantine.

The latest case comes more than 300 days since the last confirmed community case.

Lautoka Hospital.

Lautoka Hospital. Photo: Supplied/Fiji MOH

The Health Ministry said a 30-year-old man who travelled from the Philippines, transited through Hong Kong and arrived in Nadi last Thursday, was Fiji's latest confirmed case.

The ministry said the man had returned a weak positive during routine testing while undergoing mandatory 14-day quarantine in a government facility in Nadi.

The man was in isolation at Lautoka hospital.

"He currently has no symptoms and had tested negative on pre-departure testing before departing for Fiji," the ministry said in a statement.

"Based on the weak positive test result, and current lack of symptoms, he is considered a historical case, who was likely infected and recovered multiple weeks or months before entering Fiji.

"It is known that non-infectious fragments of the virus can remain detectable, and cause a positive test result long after the infection has passed, and even after previous negative test results; therefore it is unlikely that this person is currently infectious. The frontline border quarantine staff that may have had any contact with the case will be monitored and tested as a precaution according to our protocols."

Fiji has now has 57 cases with one active case, 54 recoveries and two deaths since its first case was reported on 19 March, 2020.

The last 39 cases had been travel-related and were detected in border quarantine.

A total of 29,626 tests had been conducted, with a daily average of 160 tests a day over the last week.