Members of the Republic of Military Forces (RFMF) attended the COVID 19 Contact Tracing Workshop which was conducted by the Ministry of Health (MOH) at the Suva Civic Centre on Wednesday 18th March 2020.
Speaking at the workshop the Head of Health Protection Ministry of Health and Medical Services Dr. Aalisha Sahu Khan said that it was necessary for the Ministry of Health to involve other government agencies into the workshop to assist once the COVID-19 infection reaches the country.
“The World Health Organization (WHO) had said that the first priority is containment, early detection. First finding the disease as soon as possible, finding the first cases, isolating them so it is not spread to anybody else, testing them, treating them and finding their contacts. Finding who else may have been infected so they are not able to pass it on,” Dr. Khan said.
“This is the key to controlling the disease in any country. This is why we training you because we know once we get the first case, the second case, the third case, the Ministry of Health will be able to cope without the existing team. So this is what we are doing, we are preparing and training people like you and more people like you in the country to be our boots on the ground.” Dr. Khan said.
Dr. Khan also stated that every division has your division outbreak response team which consists of doctors, nurses and health inspectors but will need more assistance if needed.
However, the RFMF will now monitor its troops more strictly especially for those returning from missions and courses overseas.
