Two people who’d travelled from Nigeria have tested positive for the Covid-19 Omicron variant in Fiji.
The people are Fijian citizens who travelled back from Nigeria, via Hong Kong, Fiji's Ministry of Health write on Facebook.
Both travellers tested negative before departure, then arrived on Fiji Airways flight FJ392 on November 25 - the day the discovery of the new variant was announced internationally.
They tested positive for Covid-19 while in a government-designated border quarantine facility.
Two travellers who returned from Nigeria have Omicron. (Source: 1News)
They currently have no symptoms and are fully vaccinated, the ministry said.
So far crew on board the same flight have tested negative at least twice.
As well, all bar four travellers on the flight were from non-travel partner countries so are in quarantine - their stay has been extended from 10 days to 14 though. The other four passengers have so far tested negative.
"The indications are that we have averted community transmission at this time, and the measures we had put in place to prevent, or at least delay, community transmission through the importation of cases from red zone countries have worked well so far," the ministry said.
Red zone countries are considered high risk and include low vaccination rates, poor testing data and an ongoing outbreak.
"Finding the Omicron variant in travellers in border quarantine is not unexpected, given how quickly it has spread worldwide, but it is a sharp reminder to ourselves that the key to avoiding future restrictions and lockdowns is for us all to remain cautious about how we engage engage in the greater freedom we will enjoy," the ministry said.
"Whilst the easing of restrictions is needed to facilitate livelihoods, we must ensure that together with vaccination, we continue to observe our Covid-safe measures and avoid contained spaces and crowds."
The ministry said it was, along with the Permanent Secretary for Health and Medical Services, "extremely concerned at the lack of adherence to Covid-1safe measures in gatherings throughout the country", though, especially wearing face masks in indoor public spaces.
"After the Delta outbreak this year it is understandable that many will feel the urge to relax and celebrate now that case numbers are low, especially during the festive season, and many of us have let our guard slip," the ministry said.
"We are all human, but this must stop now if we hope to reduce the impact of the impending third wave of Covid-19 expected in early 2022."
Fiji has had a total of 52,562 Covid-19 cases since its first in the March 2020, of which the vast majority (52,492) were since April this year when Delta arrived.
There has been 697 Covid-19 deaths in Fiji.
There were 10 new cases on Monday, with eight people receiving hospital care for the virus.
On vaccines, 602,174 adults (or 97 per cent) have received one jab and 562,780 (or 91 per cent) have had two. In children aged between 12 and 17, 54,617 have had one jab and 27,420 have had both.
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