Prime Minister Bainimarama has officially confirmed a 51-year-old woman in Ba as the 18th case of COVID-19.

This announcement was made at a press conference in Suva today.

Out of the 123 samples for the coronavirus, this one test returned with a  a “soft positive” result.

After further testing and consultations with a reference lab in Melbourne, it was found that these results indicate this sample came from someone in the final stages of recovery from coronavirus.

The patient had returned from the United States on the 22nd of March. After completing 14 days of home quarantine, she was cleared. Only later did she develop COVID-like symptoms.

“She was then  tested, giving us the soft positive result. The results of her test make it likely this patient has been carrying COVID-19 for weeks. Luckily, our contact tracing which began as soon as she was first tested on the 18th of April identifies her as a low-risk transmitter,” he said.

This patient shares a home with three others, all three have tested negative for the virus. Regardless, they have all been placed in isolation.

“We’ve traced and identified her other casual contacts; they have all been entered into compulsory home quarantine,” the Prime Minister said.

“Because of the low-risk nature of this patient spreading the virus, and our ability to quickly test and contain her few close contacts, we will not be locking down Ba Town. However, our mobile teams will be conducting a large-scale screening of the entire province. As with Lautoka and Suva, public cooperation is vital to this effort, if we don’t see sufficient numbers from these screenings, Ba will risk a total lockdown.”

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