A sobering reminder for us

THE revelation yesterday that we have another border quarantine case of the COVID-19 should be a sobering reminder for us all. We are not out of the woods yet. A 57-year-old man was confirmed by the Ministry of Health and Medical Services as Fiji’s latest case.

The Fijian citizen arrived in Nadi on Saturday, October 24, on a repatriation flight from Nairobi, which made stops in Dubai, Kuala Lumpur and Auckland en route.

The patient, we are told, had been under strict border quarantine conditions since arrival into Nadi.

He began a compulsory 14-day quarantine at a government designated quarantine facility under supervision from the Republic of Fiji Military Forces and staff from the Ministry of Health.

He remains in stable condition, and has been transferred to the isolation ward at the Lautoka Hospital as per standard protocol for confirmed cases.

The response is in line with what the ministry states is standard border process.

This latest case should be a reminder for us all to maintain vigilance.

Again, we acknowledge the work of all our frontliners. They carry our hopes and aspirations as a nation. They are the barrier we must encourage and support to maintain the status quo.

The ministry insists the latest border quarantine case poses zero risk “to the health and wellbeing of the Fijian public”.

However, it is fair warning for us all.

On the international front, as of Thursday, CNN reported that the US had 88,521 new cases, the highest single-day total since the pandemic began.

Experts were warning that death rates could triple by mid-January.

Thursday’s figure, according to Johns Hopkins University data, was 9540 more than Wednesday’s.

Interestingly, CNN reported France’s economy grew 18.2 per cent in the third quarter, which was stronger than expected after a 13.7 per cent contraction in the second quarter and a recession in the first half of the year.

France was, however, far from a full recovery, and there were renewed fears over its economic recovery, according to the French national statistics agency INSEE.

There were 18,283 new cases in Russia yesterday, the highest single-day increase in infections since the pandemic began, CNN reported. There were 355 new deaths related to COVID-19.

It reported that as of yesterday, the global total stood at 45,029,008. The figure was according to a tally by the Johns Hopkins University. There have been 1,181,075 virus-related deaths around the world.

It was interesting to note that Japan lowered its travel risk advisory level for China, Taiwan, South Korea, Australia, Thailand, Singapore, New Zealand, Brunei and Vietnam from level 3 to level 2 which meant the public is now advised to avoid unnecessary, non-urgent trips as opposed to them being advised to cancel trips to the locations.

In the face of the global effort to try and stem the infection rate, we are fortunate to be sitting in containment mode.

Let’s continue to do the right thing though. Maintain social distancing rules, avoid touching your face when out in public, and stop the hugs. Sneeze into your elbow or into a tissue and dispose this safely. Let’s stay on course Fiji.