Virus outbreak in Fiji batters economy, tests health system

A growing coronavirus outbreak in Fiji is stretching the health system and devastating the economy

SUVA, Fiji -- A growing coronavirus outbreak in Fiji is stretching the health system and devastating the economy. It has even prompted the government to offer jobless people tools and cash to become farmers. The Pacific nation got through the first year of the pandemic without any significant outbreaks and just two virus deaths. But an outbreak of the highly contagious delta variant two months ago has grown to the point where Fiji is adding about 250 new cases each day. The government has so far resisted calls for a lockdown, in part to try and protect an economy which had already shrunk by 19% last year after international tourism evaporated.