Photo taken on March 26, 2020 shows the outside view of Nadi International Airport in Suva, Fiji. As a 31-year-old Fijian woman tested positive, the infections in Fiji have reached five. Starting from Thursday, the main international airport of Fiji, the Nadi International airport will be officially shut down to all scheduled passenger travel while passenger travel to the outer islands will cease from Sunday. (FIJI SUN/Handout via Xinhua)
SUVA, March 25 (Xinhua) -- A 31-year old Fijian woman tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the island nation to five.
Fiji's Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama said in a televised speech that the woman from Fiji's second largest city of Lautoka was in direct contact with the first patient, a 27-year-old national flight attendant who had contracted the disease last Thursday.
After the flight attendant was diagnosed, the authorities quickly determined that he attended a Zumba class while he was displaying symptoms. All members of the class, including the woman, were directed to self-quarantine last Thursday. The woman started developing symptoms while in self-quarantine.
The prime minister called on Fijians to remain vigilant because the average age of the country's five cases is just 27 and anyone at any age can be a carrier.
Currently, there are four cases in Lautoka and one in the capital city of Suva and all are in stable condition and are still isolated, but the prime minister warned that the grim reality is that in Fiji, the number of deaths for this many cases would likely be much higher.
Meanwhile, Bainimarama also announced that from Thursday, the Nadi International Airport will be officially shut down to all scheduled passenger travel while passenger travel to the outer islands will cease from Sunday.
To curb the spread of the deadly virus, Fiji has taken stricter measures including the lockdown of Lautoka, and the establishment of more than 20 fever clinics to screen people for possible COVID-19.
In addition, the Fijian government will announce a supplementary budget to tackle the virus.
