Fiji Ministry of Health

Fiji officials call for kindness towards repatriated

The acting permanent secretary for health, James Fong, and the head of health protection, Aalisha Sahu Khan, said Fiji must be ready to welcome back people who have been stuck overseas for months.

"We urge you, please have some compassion for our returning citizens. Put yourself in their shoes. Imagine if it was your parents," Dr Sahu khan said.

The FBC reported Dr Fong saying Fijians could not lose sight of their humanity.

As long as the country welcomed back its own citizens from nations with large scale outbreaks, there would be cases at the border, he said.

Ongoing calls to improve Fiji's healthcare system

This comes amid local reports detailing hospital failings.

Mithun Permal and his wife Vishakini Lata took offence at the way their daughter's birth at Nadi Hospital was handled.

The baby died at birth but the parents said they had no feedback from medical staff for almost an hour and eventually had a verbal confrontation with them.

A video of hospital staff screaming at the father was later posted on social media.