Covid-19: Fijians ordered to home isolation will be monitored - Govt

Fiji's Health Ministry has promised it is capable of looking after those with coronavirus who have been told to isolate at home.

It said those infected would be closely monitored.

This comes amid escalating cases and deaths - with over 6000 people testing positive to the virus since this latest outbreak started in April.

There have been 30 deaths since March 2020, with 27 from this latest outbreak.

The ministry announced it is sending over 1000 positive people home to isolate because there are not enough facilities to keep all of them.

Health Secretary James Fong said the isolation facilities would be dedicated to patients who were most at risk of becoming severely ill or dying from the virus.

RNZ Pacific correspondent in Suva, Lice Movono, said the government was anticipating that case numbers and deaths would increase in the coming weeks.

Movono said the situation was dire.

"With the death toll now increasing and our daily case load going well past the three-digits, and our daily positivity rate now well past what the WHO says is an out-of-control pandemic.

"They're planning to turn an area that we call 'SportsCity' which is in Laucala Bay, just five minutes outside the city centre, (into a field hospital). They're making that entire sporting arena a set of Covid-19 care facilities. So they are trying to move people out of the main hospital, the Colonial War Memorial Hospital and look after them there."

New Zealand epidemiologist and University of Otago professor Michael Baker said Fiji was going backwards in its fight against the pandemic.

He said it was evident the Fijian authorities were "really beyond their limits" in managing this outbreak.

"There's a huge danger in sending home people who actually have this infection because many of them will be going back to multi-generational households.

"They maybe already crowded and it will be very hard for them to avoid infecting household members and really propagating this outbreak even further."

Fiji's health ministry said if these people developed severe symptoms, they would have to make their way to the nearest hospital for treatment.

"If they aren't able to transport themselves, we also have a new number - number 165 - which they can call for an emergency retrieval team to be dispatched to transport them to a Covid care centre," Dr Fong said.

"This team is based out of the ANZ arena and they will also be charged with transporting patients with severe symptoms from isolation facilities to Covid care centres."

In addition, the government has also reminded those who have been told to quarantine at home because they have come into contact with someone who is positive, that they should do so for as long as they have been told to.

Dr Fong said the ministry would have a list of patient names who were under home isolation, paired with contact information so they could check in with them on a daily basis over the phone to assess their medical and non-medical needs.

"As has been the case, they will continue to be provided with groceries and other household essentials so they can securely remain isolated within their homes."

Christchurch anaesthetist Wayne Morriss is in Fiji with the Australian Medical Assistance Team, to help with the Covid-19 response.

Dr Morriss said the health authorities were doing their best in trying circumstances.

"It's been a really sophisticated response by the Fijian health authorities. But I think that this sort of outbreak is would stress any health system. We're obviously very worried about the increasing numbers of cases and it's fair to say that it's really stressing the system."

Despite the alarming figures, the government has maintained there was no need for a national lockdown.

"And the reason the government has given is that basically we can't afford it. Most of the clusters are coming out of socio-economically challenged communities, the government is saying.

"So these would be informal settlements and they are saying that if we do have a lockdown, that it would be these people who would be affected the most."

Call for govt to change strategy

But the opposition National Federation Party warns the government's Covid-19 mitigation plan is leading the country to disaster.

NFP leader Biman Prasad said the government had "lost the plot" and needed to change its strategy.

"What we've been saying is 'learn from New Zealand'. I mean you know what kind of lockdowns NZ has had. They have different levels and what does a lockdown mean?

"It doesn't mean that people get locked in their homes and do not have access to food and other supplies. Instead, they're allowed to do that.

"But a lockdown is a strategy that to arrest the spread of the virus and bring it down to zero while you continue to vaccinate the people."

Following advice from the medical assistance team from New Zealand and Australia, Dr James Fong said the health ministry will increase its protection of government teams working on community screening or at the field hospitals.

Prasad said this was crucial because there were thousands of frontline workers caring for the mild and severe Covid-19 patients in Fiji.

Despite increasing social unrest, food shortages and disruptions to social services, Dr Fong said mitigation was the science-backed response to the humanitarian aspect of the outbreak.

Meanwhile, 317,461 adults have received their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine and 52,001 have received their second doses.

Fiji now has 4909 positive people in isolation.