SUVA, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Fiji reported three new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, with the Health Ministry warning of more cases in the coming weeks.
According to the Health Ministry, the first case is the daughter of a 53-year-old maid who has tested positive for COVID-19 while the other two cases being members of the Fijian military forces who returned from overseas deployment.
The two military officers tested positive for COVID-19 during routine testing while in border quarantine.
On Sunday, a member of Fiji's security forces working within a border quarantine facility in Fiji's third-largest city of Nadi had been detected of COVID-19, which the government said could pose a risk of transmission beyond the border.
On Monday, the 53-year-old woman, who is a first generation contact of the soldier that tested positive for COVID-19, has also registered a positive test result. The Fijian health authorities believed that there could be more cases of COVID-19 in the greater Nadi and Lautoka containment areas, about 200 km west of capital city Suva because the woman and her daughter had contacted with many people during the weekend.
Fiji has stepped up its measures to curb any possible chain of transmission at its earliest. Fever clinics have been re-activated to identify anyone who may have displayed COVID-19 like symptoms. Meanwhile, all schools across the nation have been closed from Tuesday for the next three weeks.
The government has also urged people to follow COVID-19 restrictions on social and sports activities as well as religious services in the coming two weeks.
As a Pacific island nation with a population of around 900,000, Fiji has received 136,000 doses of COVID-19 AstraZeneca vaccine and more than 50,000 people have been vaccinated so far.
The Fijian government has repeatedly urged more Fijians to get vaccinated.
The nation has registered 77 cases in total, with 10 active cases, 65 recoveries and 2 deaths since its first case was reported on March 19 last year.
Fiji maintains strict travel restrictions to date for foreign visitors alongside a nationwide curfew effective from March 30 last year. Enditem