Fiji Police have arrested 240 people for not wearing a face covering mask in public.
Police ensure Covid-19 protocols are observed by the public. Photo: Fiji govt
A total of 256 bookings were made in the last 48 hours for breach of the Public Health Act.
The Government eased curfew restrictions on Wednesday, a week after lifting internal border closures since the latest Covid-19 outbreak began in April.
Fiji's Police Commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho said while restrictions eased, the police force would continue to ensure everyone followed the health safety measures.
"The time for warning from us is long gone, we just have to be tough and enforce what needs to be enforced."
Qiliho urged the public to play their part.
Police said other public health infringement notices (PHIN) issued included 10 for breach of curfew, four bookings for failure to wear a mask in a public service vehicle and one notice each for failing to comply with orders pertaining to the consumption of kava and liquor, and failure to comply with protocol in relation to the entering and exit of a containment zone.
"We will continue to plead and urge Fijians to take these very simple and effective Covid health measures seriously," police said.
New penalties for breach of Covid-19 protocols were announced in July by Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama.
The on-the-spot fines range from nearly $US10 for individuals and up to $US2000 for companies depending on the severity of the offence.
Bainimarama said the fines were being introduced so the police cells did not get crowded with offenders.
The government did not want to lock people up and it did not want their money, it wanted people to follow the rules, the prime minister said.
70 new cases in the community
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry reported 70 new cases of Covid-19 in the community.
This brought the total number of cases to nearly 12,841.
Health Secretary James Fong also confirmed 19 cases on the remote island of Kadavu in the last 24 hours.
There is now a total of 577 cases on the island.
.. Photo: Facebook/Fiji govt
Dr Fong said 19 new cases were recorded in the villages of Muani, Nakunakoro and Namalata on Kadavu.
He said no new cases were reported on Malolo Island in the last 24 hours.
"Of the total of 87 cases, 57 have recovered, and 30 remain active," Dr Fong said.
"No new cases were recorded on Naviti Island in the last 24 hours. Of the 181 cases, 163 have recovered and 18 remain active.
"No new cases were recorded on Waya Island in the last 24 hours. Of the 51 cases on the island, 31 cases have recovered and 20 cases remain active and under daily monitoring by the health team.
"The Nacula Medical Area did not report any new cases in the last 24 hours. Of the 155 cases in the medical area, 30 have recovered, and 125 remain active.
"No new cases were recorded on Beqa Island in the last 24 hours. Of the 252 cases on the island, 176 cases have now been recovered and 75 cases remain active.
"Ovalau Island did not report any new cases in the last 24 hours. The two positive cases are on day 11 in the Isolation facility and monitored by the health team in Levuka."
Dr Fong said there were no deaths to report.
However, he said there were sevens deaths of Covid patients but these deaths had been classified as non-Covid deaths by their doctors.
The doctors have determined that these deaths were caused by a serious pre-existing medical condition and not Covid-19, Dr Fong said.
There were 83 Covid patients admitted at hospital - 43 at the Lautoka Hospital and 40 at the CWM, St Giles and Makoi hospitals.
Dr Fong said four patients were in severe condition, three critical.
"To date, 592,242 adults in Fiji have received their first dose of the vaccine and 448,243 have received their second doses. Based on our updated total population of 618,173 people aged 18 years and over (adults), the revised vaccination coverage rates are 95.8% for adults who have received at least one dose, and 72.5% are now fully vaccinated nationwide.
"Please do note that since dose one is beyond 95%, a verification exercise for dose one is ongoing which may result in minor changes. Furthermore, we have adjusted our second dose to correct some double counts thus the small increase of 115 which results in the same percentage coverage for dose 2 as reported yesterday."
As for children eligible to get the vaccine - those aged 12-17, Dr Fong said 17,996 had received their first dose of the vaccine as of 24 September.
Fiji security forces inspect cars at a security check post at a residential area as they enforce face mask protocols in Fiji's capital Suva. Photo: AFP
