A total of 7,888 people are under quarantine, after health teams traced and tested primary and secondary contacts of existing COVID-19 cases during the Suva and Nausori four-day lockdown, according to Fiji's health officials on 18 May.

“This is the largest number of active contacts we have ever identified,” said Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Health and Medical Services, Dr James Fong.

"We don’t measure success solely by the number of contacts in quarantine, but these are important markers of progress. They represent Fijians at risk of infection."

“Identifying them and isolating them ensures that chains of transmission were broken before they could extend, it means clusters were thwarted before they exploded beyond our control. Those quiet victories against this invisible enemy were only possible thanks to the public’s cooperation and support through our four days of strict lockdown,” he said.

Suva and Nausori now have separate containment zones, since the lockdown was lifted on 17 May at 4:00am.  

Curfew hours for all of Viti Levu are from 6:00pm to 4:00am daily, while outside of Viti Levu, curfew hours remain from 11:00pm to 4:00am daily.

New COVID-19 cases

Meanwhile, eleven new COVID-19 cases were announced by Fiji's Ministry of Health and Medical Services on 17 May.

Six were already in home isolation, while five, who are household contacts of a previous case, were already in a quarantine facility.  They tested negative to COVID-19 while being admitted to the facility, but tested positive in their second round of testing in quarantine.

There are currently 57 active cases in home isolation or quarantine.

Fiji is also currently rolling out COVID-19 vaccination programs across the country.