Minister for Health and Medical Services Dr Ifereimi Waqainabete has confirmed that the blood test results for the two Fijian citizens from China under isolation at the Nadi Hospital will arrive today.

The two arrived in Fiji on February 3, from Guangdong, and had experienced mild symptoms of the novel coronavirus.

Lab samples for confirmatory testing for the virus were then sent to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Collaborating Centre reference laboratory in Melbourne, Australia.

Dr Waqainabete said the ministry’s response teams were managing close contacts of the patients while under isolation.

“The results will be in by tomorrow evening (today), but currently the two are still under isolation at the Nadi Hospital,” Dr Waqainabete said.

Quarantine facilities

Dr Waqainabete also responded to claims on social media on the closure of the Makoi Maternity Unit to be used as a quarantine facility.

He said they were still considering options within the ministry’s facilities and that the Makoi Maternity Unit was a facility under the Ministry of Health.

“We will let the public know if there is a need or a plan of having a quarantine facility in the Central Division,” the minister said.

“We are using a facility at the Nadi Hospital, with the two that are under isolation at the moment and that is adequate for now.”

Since yesterday, the World Health Organisation has announced 28,276 confirmed cases of the virus with a death toll of 565.

Edited by Naisa Koroi

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