Pacific

Less testing for Covid-19 breeding complacency in Fiji

06:02 am on 17 August 2021

Official Covid-19 figures in Fiji are falling but there are concerns that is only because less people are getting tested.

Last month while still in containment mode Fiji recorded thousands of daily cases for Covid-19 and an increasing death toll that threatened to overwhelm the country's health systems.

On the 21st of July the government abandoned its containment strategy and moved to mitigate the worst cases of the virus, this meant an end to contact tracing and selective Covid-19 testing.

Our correspondent in Fiji Lice Movono, has been tracking official figures throughout the current outbreak and says this change has resulted in a steady drop in the official number of daily cases which, unexplained is misleading the public into thinking things are getting better.

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People lining up to get their Covid-19 vaccinations in Fiji. Photo: Fiji govt