Isolated in the South Pacific, Fiji struggles as infections rise

[andhra_jp]

Isolated in the South Pacific, Fiji struggles as infections rise

After months of virtually no community transmission, the country has been pummeled over the past eight weeks by the highly contagious coronavirus variant known as Delta.

Fiji, with a population of about 900,000, now has more than 1,000 known active cases, with five people having died from the virus, according to a New York Times database. 

The authorities on Friday reported 91 new cases.

About 26 percent of Fijians have received at least one dose of an AstraZeneca vaccine, with doses acquired through the Covax global vaccine initiative or donated by Australia and New Zealand.

The government in Fiji has resisted calls for a 28-day national lockdown, citing concerns about the economic effects, and instead imposed targeted local restrictions, including locking down hospitals, closing Parliament and restricting travel between urban areas.

In a televised address last week, Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said that the risks of a lockdown were too great. “People’s jobs may never return,” he said. 

“We’d suffer structural unemployment through the permanent loss of industries and I cannot allow that to happen, and I will not.”

https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/444979/covid-19-one-death-91-new-cases-in-fiji