BY MAVIS N PODOKOLO
OF the 141 people booked to board the recent Fiji repatriation flight, eight people were disqualified from boarding the flight due to strict COVID-19 measures.
According to Dr Jimmie Rodgers Secretary to the Prime Minister ,out of the eight people one did not turn up to do COVID-19 tests so that person was denied the right to fly.
Dr Rodgers stressed that of the seven two daughters of a family of five were tested positive with COVID-19 and so the whole family members were not allowed to board.
He said one student was indeterminate, meaning the persons tests is is not a definite positive nor it is a definite negative, so for safety it is regarded as positive so the person plus the person’s roommate was also denied to board.
“So, that leaves us with eight people unable to come over on the recent Fiji repatriation flight .Which means only 132 passengers boarded the flight on the 29th of October 2021,”Rodgers said.
He reiterated that on that flight 105 adults were all fully vaccinated ,27 children not vaccinated and also of that group of 105, 22 were positive previously fully recovered , tested negative and fully vaccinated.
“So that is to assure the public inside the country that no one came on that flight that is positive of COVID-19 everyone negative, of course the children cannot be vaccinated but all 27 of them tested negative of COVID-19,” Rodgers said.
He stressed test results of this Fiji-repatriation flight is currently worked on at the Molecular laboratory at the National Referral Hospital.
“We are hoping that results will be all negative but of course the test within 72 hours does not give the status of COVID-19 on the day of the test,” Rodgers said.
