Fiji

Jacinda Ardern landed in Suva on Monday evening where she was greeted by Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama and a full military procession.

The New Zealand national anthem was played and Ardern inspected the guard before being whisked off in a 26 kilometre motorcade at speed through the city of Suva.

Hundreds of locals had come out to line the streets in an effort to see Ardern after the local paper and television channels broadcast the full itinerary of her three days in Fiji including arrivals, events, press conferences and departure times.

In the case of Fiji, Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama is a strong advocate for action that will reduce global warming, not only in the Pacific but globally.

But in Australia, a key plank of Prime Minister Scott Morrison's successful election campaign was his resistance to any real climate action.

It was 2016 when a New Zealand Prime Minister last visited Fiji, under Sir John Key's watch. That visit followed a strained period between 2006 and 2014 when the relationship between the two countries had turned sour following Bainimarama's military coup.

The Samoa Observer newspaper reported the measure was endorsed by Cabinet earlier this month in an apparent move to promote the use of the country's airline, Samoa Airways in the Fiji-Samoa route.

Currently Fiji Airways is the only airline servicing the lucrative route with Samoa Airways having a seat sharing arrangement with the Fiji national airline.

A Cabinet decision paper indicated the closing of the route between Apia and Nadi but did not say when it would happen.

A woman who flew into Fiji from Japan last weekend is awaiting test results are after she arrived in the country from Narita.

The woman is being isolated in hospital.

Meanwhile, a nine-year-old boy is also in isolation at a Fiji hospital after he fell ill soon after he returned from Singapore.

The Ministry of Health would not say if the boy had symptoms of the virus, but said tests were being conducted.

An official said there were no confirmed cases of the virus in Fiji.

Reuven Rivlin, just the second Israeli president to visit Fiji, will be in the country for only 24 hours, en route to Australia.

Fiji's prime minister Frank Bainimarama is today hosting what his government website bills as a Pacific Islands Leaders' Summit.

President Rivlin is expected to attend the summit.

Also among those in attendance will be Papua New Guinea's prime minister James Marape and Samoa's Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi.

Ratu Suliano Matanitobua said the health of people from the Serua and Namosi provinces near the hospital would be put at threat by the unit.

"As the paramount chief of the region, I have received hundreds of calls and courtesy calls since the proposal made its way into the public domain to speak up for them," he said in a statement.

"The people of Navua would like to make it clear to the government that we would not like to become another Wuhun of Fiji or a guinea pig laboratory in this trial and error games that is being played with the lives of our people."

The workshop was aimed at outlining the responsibilities of both athletes and officials prior to and during the Games.

 Patrick Bower, Fiji’s Chef de Mission, stressed the importance of ensuring officials are aware of the rules to ensure athletes do not inadvertently breach rules.

 "It is important that officials know what the rules are because not knowing could lead to disqualification and also slur the reputation of Fiji," Bower said.

The passengers were returning to Samoa after undergoing medical treatment in India and were refused entry at Faleolo International Airport Sunday.

They had earlier transited through Singapore, which is one of the country’s listed on Samoa’s Coronavirus Border Security Travel Advisory.

Fiji’s Permanent Secretary for Health, Bernadette Welch told the Fiji Sun that the Samoan nationals have had all the necessary health checks and do not pose any threat of the novel coronavirus to Fiji.

Under new measures to contain the Wuhan coronavirus, the Fiji government has banned non-citizens who have been in mainland China in the past 14 days from entering.

However, in a statement, the Chinese embassy said Beijing had taken rigourous containment measures, and there was no need for measures that interfered with travel and trade.

It hoped the Fiji government would minimise the negative impact on the movement of people as much as possible.

The patients, who are both Fiji citizens, are symptomatic and authorities wore full protection as an ambulance rushed the two into isolation at Nadi Hospital from a local health centre where they had sought treatment after arriving from China on Monday.

The samples are being sent to a WHO 'Collaborating Centre' reference laboratory in Melbourne, Fiji's Ministry of Health said.