As Fiji's COVID-19 cases surge, a group of men in the capital Suva say they were arrested for not wearing face masks and were held in a crowded prison cell.
The four men said they were on a cigarette break at their work site when they were detained.
They said they feared they would become infected after they were taken by police to a small, crowded cell and kept there for 12 hours with around a dozen other men.
Afterwards they were held for two further days with more than 100 people in what appeared to be a gym or classroom converted into a makeshift remand centre.
"We don't know what kind of people are coming in, who've got the sickness."
The ABC has spoken to three of the four men and none of them want to be identified, over fear of police or government retribution.
The Fijian government has been scrutinised in the past for its human rights record, and its police force has faced accusations of brutality.
Fiji police have not yet responded to the ABC's request for comment.
The Pacific nation of around 900,000 people has recorded more than 7,000 COVID-19 cases in the past week alone.
Fiji currently has the highest number of coronavirus infections per capita in the world.
Its government has made vaccines compulsory for all workers, under the threat of fines or job losses.
The recent deaths of two pregnant women from COVID-19 alarmed health authorities, with Shirleen Ali from the non-governmental organisation CARE in Fiji saying there has been a "tidal wave" of recent cases.
"Fear is growing, but some people are still not taking the virus seriously and are gathering in large groups, for example to drink kava or alcohol," Ms Ali said.
A doctor working in one of Fiji's largest hospitals said the country's outbreak was nearing breaking point.
The doctor, who wished to remain anonymous as she did not receive government permission to speak to the media, said high rates of community transmission had put healthcare workers at risk.
"You don't know whether you're going to contract the virus from a patient, a colleague or just some person that you pass in the parking lot on that particular day."
More than 220 people have died after contracting COVID-19 in Fiji since April, when the country's devastating second wave, linked to the Delta strain, began.
Medical staff have been directed not to speak to the media without explicit permission from the country's Ministry of Health.
But the doctor who spoke to the ABC anonymously said Fiji was "nearing the point when it's going to become too much".
"We are working under-staffed, we are working without equipment, we are working without PPE [personal protective equipment] at times," the doctor said.
"We are nearing that point when the system is going to buckle under this pressure."
