Fiji has reported 968 new cases of covid-19 and 11 more deaths, including a teenager, for the 24 hours to 8am yesterday.
That compares with 1187 infections and 11 deaths in the previous 24-hour period.
The government also confirmed last night that all but one of the victims were not vaccinated.
Of the latest cases, 292 were from the Western Division while the rest from the Central Division.
More than 23,000 covid-positive people are in isolation, with more than a quarter of them at home.
Health Secretary Dr James Fong said 385 people had recovered from the coronavirus, which means there are now 23,226 active cases in isolation.
He said 18,589 of them are in the Central Division and 4637 in the west.
11 deaths recorded
“All cases that were recorded in the Northern and Eastern Divisions (cases that were imported from Viti Levu) have recovered and there are no active cases currently in those divisions.
“There have been 34,818 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021. We have recorded a total of 34,888 cases in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020, with 11,233 recoveries.”
Dr Fong said the latest 11 deaths were recorded between August 2 and 5, eight of them in the Central Division and three in the west.
- A 15-year-old girl from Tavua presented to a medical facility in respiratory distress and she was transferred to Lautoka Hospital on August 2. Her family reported that she had a fever, cough and shortness of breath two days prior to visiting the health centre. Clinical investigations revealed she had both leptospirosis and covid-19.
“Sadly, her condition worsened at the hospital and she died one day after admission,” Dr Fong said. “Her doctors have determined that she died from severe covid-19 and leptospirosis. Both diseases contributed to her death.
“She was not vaccinated as she was not in the target population of people 18 years and over who are eligible to receive the vaccine.”
Summary of deaths
- A 60-year-old man from Lami near Suva died at home on August 4.
- A 51-year-old woman from Raiwaqa in Suva also died at home on August 4.
- An 85-year-old man from Lautoka was declared dead on arrival by the attending medical officer at the Lautoka Hospital’s Emergency Department.
Dr Fong said this meant that he died at home or on his way to the hospital.
- An 88-year-old man from Sigatoka was declared dead on arrival by the attending medical officer at the Sigatoka Sub Divisional Hospital. This means he died at home or on his way to the hospital.
- An 86-year-old man from Toorak, Suva, presented to the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in severe respiratory distress on August 4. His condition worsened in the hospital and he died on the same day.
- An 85-year-old woman from Tailevu died at home on August 2.
- A 55-year-old man from Tailevu also died at home on the August 2.
- A 70-year-old woman from Tailevu died at home on August 2.
- A 90-year-old man from Raiwai died at home on August 5.
- An 85-year-old man from Naitasiri died at home on August 5.
Four other people who tested positive to covid-19 have died, however Dr Fong said their deaths were caused by serious pre-existing medical conditions and not covid.
He said a total of 146 covid-positive people had died but their deaths were classified as caused by the virus.
311 covid patients in hospital
“There are 311 covid-19 patients admitted to hospital, 63 of them are at Lautoka, 78 patients are admitted at the FEMAT field hospital, and 170 at Suva’s CWM, St Giles and Makoi hospitals. 48 patients are in severe condition, with six in critical condition.”
Almost 6000 people were screened and 636 swabbed at the clinics in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 411,142 individuals screened and 73,893 swabbed to date.
Dr Fong said as of August 4, the ministry’s teams had screened a total of 1928 individuals and swabbed 91 others.
“This brings our cumulative total to 776,034 individuals screened and 68,462 swabbed by our mobile teams,” he said.
“A total of 287,237 samples have been tested since this outbreak started in April 2021, with 330,098 tested since March 2020. 3352 tests have been reported for August 3.”
Dr Fong said the daily test average was 3401 per day or 3.8 tests per 1000 population. The national daily test positivity was 32.4 percent, almost seven times the World Health Organisation (WHO) threshold which is five percent.
“As of August 4, 498,680 adults in Fiji have received their first dose of the vaccine and 164,974 have received their second doses. This means that 85 percent of the target population have received at least one dose and 28.1 percent are fully vaccinated nation-wide.
Daily average
“The daily average for new cases is 1156 or 1193 cases per million population per day. Daily case numbers remain high and daily test positivity remains high, indicating ongoing widespread community transmission in the Suva-Nausori containment zone.
“The cases are also increasing in the West with evidence of community transmission in the division.
“We are also recording increasing numbers of people with severe disease, and deaths in the West. The Northern and Eastern Divisions currently have no active cases.”
Dr Fong is urging the public to adhere to the covid-safe protocols including the daily curfew from 6pm-4am.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
