It was a One- Off Incident: Gavoka Assures

Minister for Tourism Viliame Gavoka while acknowledging the seriousness of the incident that left seven women hospitalised after consuming a cocktail at the Warwick Fiji, has assured the incident was a one-off one.

“Our thoughts are with the affected guests and their families during this time, and we are ensuring that they receive the best medical care possible,” Mr Gavoka said in a press conference yesterday.

“We are reassured that their condition this morning was stable, and we do hope their condition continues to improve.

“Our health team has conducted initial investigations, and so far, no further cases have been reported.

“We are continuing to investigate the cause of this incident, and further testing and research are underway, with the full support of the Ministry of Health and the Fiji Police Force.

“This is an extremely isolated incident, affecting only these seven guests at a specific bar within the Resort.”

He said no other incidents have been reported either at the resort, or across the country.

“The resort has been operating in Fiji successfully for many years and holds a strong reputation, particularly among our Australian visitors.

“The resort management has assured us that they have not engaged in practices such as substituting ingredients or altering the quality of drinks served to guests.

“The incident occurred at only one bar, and it involved seven tourists, ranging in age from young to older, who fell ill.”

Government reassures visitors

He said the Fijian Government reassured both local and international visitors to Fiji that this was a very isolated incident.

“Thousands of tourists are currently visiting Fiji, and close to a million tourists visit annually, and safely. This is the only reported case of its kind that we’ve experienced in recent memory, and certainly nothing like this has been experienced this year.

“While we understand the concern, we want to emphasise that the tourism experience in Fiji is typically very safe, and we have acted immediately to try and discover the cause of what made these guests, at this resort, fall ill.

“As we approach the festive season, we always advise everyone to exercise the usual caution about what they consume. We continue to monitor the situation closely.”

Meanwhile, travel advisory for Australian toursits update yesterday read: “We continue to advise exercise normal safety precautions. Be alert to the potential risks around drink spiking and methanol poisoning through consuming alcoholic drinks. Get urgent medical help if you suspect drink spiking.”

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