The seven people hospitalised in Fiji with suspected severe alcohol poisoning are reported to be in a stable condition, says Tourism Fiji chief executive Brent Hill.

Seven people, including four Australian tourists and one American, and two other foreigners who live in Fiji, had been drinking cocktails at the 5-star Warwick Resort in the Coral Coast before they fell ill.

All have now been transferred to the larger Lautoka Hospital from Sigatoka Hospital because of the severity of their condition.

Hill told RNZ Pacific they were all now in a stable condition and there had been improvement in some symptoms.

“We don’t want to speculate on exactly the cause; we don’t know that yet,” he said.

“But what we do know is that it was limited to only seven tourists at one resort and only at one bar in that resort as well.

“Talking to the management they’re quite perplexed as to how it’s happened, and certainly there are no accusations around that something’s been put into their drink or been diluted or using a foreign substance.”

A local ‘had seizures’
A resort guest, who did not want to be named, told RNZ Pacific that his friend, a local, was having seizures on Saturday afternoon and was still too ill to get up.

The guest said he was certain the drinks had been tampered with.

“We have not received any proper communication from the Warwick team and just asked one of my friends to sign an indemnity form.”

He said that he and the group that he was with had all had one drink each at the adult pool bar.

“Everyone that I saw at the Sigatoka Hospital all drank the piña colada.

“The hospital and doctors were the saving grace . . . they were really overwhelmed, but tried their best to get everyone stable and moved out to Lautoka ICU overnight.”

Fiji’s Health Secretary Dr Jemesa Tudravu told local media two out of the seven affected individuals had been placed on life support over the weekend. However, they had since recovered and remained in critical condition.

Tudravu said all those affected were tourists, and no locals involved.

Affected locals ignored
But the resort guest who spoke to RNZ Pacific claims that Tudravu has completely ignored the fact that locals were also affected.

A Fiji police spokesperson said on Monday that a 26-year-old local woman been discharged from Sigatoka Hospital.

“Others have been transferred to Lautoka Aspen Hospital and we will wait for medical authorities to clear the victims first before we can interview them,” he said.

“But police investigation is already underway.”

Hill said the tourism industry was very conscious of the recent tainted alcohol incident in Laos, where several people died, but said it’s “a long way from that”.

“The resort has certainly given us assurance that there’s no indication around substituting substances in beverages and so on. So it’s a little bit of a mystery that a nice resort would experience something like this.”

When asked if tourists needed to be careful ordering cocktails in Fiji, Hill said people needed to be careful anywhere around the world, including at home.

‘Unfortunate experience’
“The risk is very, very small, but at the same time, we don’t want to diminish for these seven people.

“It’s obviously been a really unfortunate experience and we certainly are trying to work out what’s caused that and our investigation is continuing.”

Brent said he had never heard of anything like this happening in Fiji before.

He hoped it would not affect Fiji’s reputation as a tourist destination.

“I do understand, of course, based on recent events in Southeast Asia that people want assurance that they can be safe, and certainly from our perspective it’s a really isolated case.”

A spokesperson for Warwick Fiji told RNZ Pacific that they had “nothing to disclose”.

RNZ Pacific was told the general manager of the high-end resort would not front for an interview because the suspected poisoning was still under investigation.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Fiji’s Lautoka Hospital is now closed to members of the public after a new positive case announced last night was that of a patient who was admitted for a surgical procedure at the hospital.

Health Secretary Dr James Fong said all medical services would now be re-routed to a network of back-up hospitals in Nadi, Ba, Sigatoka, as well as the Punja and Kamikamica health centres in Lautoka.

“We’ve activated the entire government machinery to ensure these critical services remain accessible to our people,” Dr Fong said.

The Fiji Times reports that a 53-year-old patient at Lautoka Hospital had died – the third death from covid-19 in Fiji.

Fiji has recorded four more new cases, and among these are two returning peacekeepers from the Golan Heights.

As announced before, he said the borders of the containment areas were open to those travelling for medical emergencies.

“Given we expect more cases, and more severe cases, sections within the Lautoka Hospital are being converted into intensive care units which will house additional beds and ventilators,” he added.

Staff accommodated in hospital
Dr Fong said the staff of Lautoka Hospital would be accommodated and work within the hospital while contact tracing continued.

“Remember, our staffing capacity was already stretched due to quarantine of the close contacts of our two doctors,” he said.

“Those who are working will operate on high-alert, fully-equipped in the proper personal protective equipment.

“They will be screened regularly and tested often.

Patient 125 dead: #COVID19Fiji
A 53yo man has succumbed to #COVID19 in Lautoka. Originally admitted for surgery, the patient is also the suspected origin of 2 infections at Lautoka Hosp.
The hospital w over 400 staff & patients has been closed in by military&police. #FijiNews

— Lice Movono (@LiceMovono) May 5, 2021

“We are going to provide them with any and all support that they need. Food, supplies, bedding, whatever they require, we will provide.”

Earlier last night, Dr Fong said some staff who had left the hospital had been called back in, and Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) personnel and police officers had ring-fenced the entire hospital. They would strictly manage who was allowed onto the premises.

“More than 400 patients, doctors, nurses, and other staff have been sequestered and will be effectively quarantined within the hospital until we can determine who else may or may not have had contact with this patient,” Dr Fong said.

Timoci Vula is a Fiji Times reporter.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz