A Covid-19 outbreak that forced Fiji's capital into lockdown after the island nation avoided transmission for a year was confirmed as the Indian variant, with health officials saying they feared a “tsunami” of cases.

The permanent secretary for health and medical services, James Fong, said six new cases had emerged in quarantine facilities and events in India showed the threat posed by the strain could not be underestimated.

“We cannot let that nightmare happen in Fiji,” he said in a televised address.

Fiji has largely contained the virus through strict isolation measures and border controls, recording 109 cases and just two deaths in a population of 930,000, according to AFP.