Villagers in Fiji's remote islands, hit with the Covid-19 outbreak, are seeking assistance, community workers there have revealed.
Naviti Island in the Yasawa Group. Photo: Facebook/Naviti Island
Two districts in the Yasawas, west of the country, have sought help for households in isolation that have no access to basic food supply.
Tourist hotspots Naviti and Nacula are experiencing an increase in Covid-19 cases with residents in both areas seeking assistance for households in isolation that have no access to basic food supply.
The Government confirmed a total of 121 new cases and nine deaths in the last 24 hours.
This takes the total of cases to 12,948, with the death toll at 575.
There have been a total of 178 cases reported on Naviti, with 88 in isolation - five of them recorded in the last 24 hours.
Movement restrictions remain for all villages on the island.
Nacula reported 51 new cases in the villages of Bukama, Dalomo, Teci and Yasawa-i-Rara, with a total of 80 cases on the island.
The Health Ministry said all the patients are isolating at home and monitored by the clinical teams.
Strict movement restriction remains in place for the whole island, it said.
Naviti District official Meciusela Vuli said families in isolation were surviving on food supplied by other villagers.
He said everyone was sharing what they could with the families in isolation.
"Those who are sick are cared for by the villagers as well and we supply them with three meals every day.
People in the Yasawa islands learn new food processing skills like flour making using local staples and fruit drying Photo: Supplied
"But it's their primary contacts that we are worried about because a lot of them have to fend for them."
Vuli said they were also in quarantine and were not allowed to leave their homes.
He said they couldn't reach their farms or get supplies from their families on the main island of Viti Levu.
He said the district had requested food rations from the government.
Nacula District official Lavenia Naivalu said they were also worried about the growing cases which would result in an extended lockdown.
"If we have a longer lockdown, we will run out of supplies," she said.
"We had food rations delivered to our seven villages last week but we know that will run out if we keep having new cases.
"We need help getting supplies especially for those families in isolation."
Meanwhile, some villagers in Naviti are refusing to take their second jab.
Vuli said attempts by officials from the Ministry of Health to convince the villagers to take the second jab had proven futile.
"We have been visiting these villagers to ask them to change their minds but they have told us they will not take the second dose," he said.
"Most of them have said that they will not take the vaccine because of their religious beliefs.
Front-line workers on their way to swab villagers in remote Fiji. Photo: Fiji Health Ministry
"It has caused some frustrations especially for our health teams because they are trying to help our community."
Vuli said they hoped these people would change their minds about the vaccine.
He said in other communities such as Marou Village, health teams had started administering the vaccines to teenagers above the age of 17.
"One of the positive things we are seeing is our young people coming forward to get vaccinated," Vuli said.
"This is because they are seeing a lot of their friends and relatives who are also getting sick.
"In Marou, we have teenagers who tested positive and are in isolation with other positive cases."
Vuli said they had separated the sick from their families and put them in two houses dedicated for these patients.
Their primary and secondary contacts are in quarantine in their homes, Vuli said.
He said a curfew - now in its fourth week - was in place within the district.
Internal border restrictions were lifted on Viti Levu last Friday but restrictions on all inter-island travel and a curfew remained.
Fiji plans to reopen its borders to international travellers in November - with the aim of achieving an 80 percent vaccination rate.
Sixty-six percent of the target population had been fully vaccinated, the government said.