Fiji capital in lockdown after virus ‘superspreader’ event

Fijian capital Suva entered a 14-day lockdown on Monday as the Pacific island nation battled to contain a COVID-19 spike following a ‘superspreader’ funeral event.

Fijian capital Suva has entered a 14-day lockdown.

Fijian capital Suva entered a 14-day lockdown on Monday as the Pacific island nation battled to contain a COVID-19 spike following a “superspreader” funeral event.

Around 100,000 people in the city must stay in containment zones and non-essential businesses are shuttered after the first community coronavirus cases in 12 months were detected.

A soldier contracted the virus at a quarantine facility and is believed to have transmitted it to a maid, who then exposed up to 500 people at a funeral. Permanent Secretary for Health and Medical Services James Fong said four new cases emerged over the weekend.

“Three of the cases involved persons who attended the funeral that we have identified as a superspreader event, including a husband and wife who circulated through the community,” he said.

It is not clear how the fourth person, a woman from the outskirts of Suva, became infected.

Fiji has largely contained the virus through strict isolation measures and border controls, recording fewer than 100 cases and just two deaths in a population of 930,000.

The emergence of community transmission is a blow for Fiji’s hopes of opening travel bubbles with Australia and New Zealand, the source of most of its visitors. Fiji’s economy is heavily dependent on tourism, with monthly visitor numbers down 99 per cent.