COVID-19

While our health workers have been rightfully recognised as ‘frontliners’ in the fight against COVID19, the critical frontline efforts of our media workers in bringing much-needed information and news to our people has been largely forgotten.

Fijians woke today to the lifting of a snap-lockdown imposed since Saturday in Suva and surrounding towns after dozens of community cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in the community.

While there were no new cases of the virus overnight, the Health Ministry is urging the public to not let their guard down.

Health Secretary Dr James Fong said since 4am local time, the Suva-Nausori lockdown zone will revert into two separate containment areas.

He said this meant that within these containment areas, only movement for essential purposes may resume.

The health ministry said the ruling had been made "based on the proportion of people in quarantine who have acquired a Covid-19 infection in India".

Earlier this week, Australia banned all flights from India.

There are an estimated 9,000 Australians in India, 600 of whom are classed as vulnerable.

This will be the first time Australians have been criminalised for returning to their country, Australian media report.

One doctor told ABC that the government's move was disproportionate to the threat posed by those returning from India.

There were 3,001 deaths in 24 hours, after a peak of more than 4,000 was reached at the start of April.

The 14-day average of deaths and cases remains high but has seen a slight fall.

Congress has opened an inquiry into the government's handling of the pandemic.

President Jair Bolsonaro, who has frequently spoken out against lockdowns, masks and defended unproved drugs as treatment, is facing widespread criticism and his support has plummeted.

India reported 379,257 new infections on Thursday, the world's highest single-day total.

The US embassy warned that "access to all types of medical care is becoming severely limited".

The level 4 "do not travel" advisory is the highest of its kind issued by the Department of State.

The overall death toll in India officially surpassed 200,000 on Wednesday, though experts believe the actual number could be much higher.

In the advisory, US citizens were told "not to travel to India or to leave as soon as it is safe to do so".

According to the Permanent Secretary for Health, Dr James Fong, the first two are close household contacts of previously announced cases, and they have tested positive while secure in quarantine facilities.

One is the 25-year-old wife of the case who stayed in Vunimono, Nausori and the other is his 52-year-old aunt.

Dr Fong told a press conference this evening that the third case is a former border quarantine passenger who arrived from Papua New Guinea into Nadi on Friday April 9th.

The Health Ministry said a 53 year-old caretaker from the town of Rakiraki will require further investigation into his contacts to determine whether he is linked to other Covid-19 patients.

Health Secretary James Fong said the man showed symptoms of the virus when he visited the health centre on Saturday.

Dr Fong said the man is being isolated at Lautoka Hospital.

He said the other latest case is linked to a woman who contracted the virus from her husband, a worker at the MIQ facility in Nadi.

Local media reported that the organising committee had asked the country's nursing association for assistance in staffing Olympic venues and the athletes' village before and during the July 23-Aug. 8 Games.

Olympic organisers are pushing ahead with their preparations as Japan struggles to contain a resurgence in the coronavirus pandemic. The country on Friday declared areas including Tokyo and Osaka to be in a state of emergency.

India's second wave of Covid-19 infections has seen at least 300,000 people a day test positive for the past week, overwhelming healthcare facilities and crematoriums and driving an increasingly urgent international response.

In the past 24 hours, 360,960 new cases were recorded, the largest single-day total in the world, taking India's total to nearly 18 million. A further 3293 deaths, the deadliest day so far, took the death toll to 201,187.

Experts believe the official tally vastly underestimates the actual toll in the country of 1.3 billion.

The couple were announced as campaign chairs of the Vax Live event, organised by anti-poverty group Global Citizen.

US President Joe Biden will also appear at the concert, which is being hosted by pop star Selena Gomez.

"We will all benefit, we will all be safer, when everyone, everywhere has equal access to the vaccine," Harry and Meghan said.

"We must pursue equitable vaccine distribution and, in that, restore faith in our common humanity. The mission couldn't be more critical or important."