A 15-year-old Tavua girl is among the 11 new COVID-19 deaths announced for the period of 2nd to 5th August while 968 new COVID cases have been confirmed.
Permanent Secretary for Health, Doctor James Fong says 8 of the deaths were in the Central Division and 3 deaths were from the Western Division.
Doctor Fong says the 15-year-old girl from Tavua presented to a medical facility in respiratory distress and she was transferred to Lautoka Hospital. Her family reported that she had a fever, cough and shortness of breath two days prior to presentation. Clinical investigations revealed that she was positive for both Leptospirosis and COVID-19.
He says sadly, her condition worsened at the hospital and she died one day after admission on 3rd August. Her doctors have determined that she died from severe COVID-19 with Leptospirosis. Both diseases contributed to her death.
The second COVID-19 death is a 60-year-old man from Lami who died at home on 4th August. He was not vaccinated.
Doctor Fong says the third death is a 51-year-old woman from Raiwaqa who died at home on 4th August. She was not vaccinated.
The fourth death is an 85-year-old man from Lautoka. He was declared dead on arrival by the attending medical officer at the Lautoka Hospital Emergency Department. He was not vaccinated.
The fifth COVID-19 death is an 88-year-old man from Sigatoka. He was declared dead on arrival by the attending medical officer at the Sigatoka Sub Divisional Hospital. He was not vaccinated.
Doctor Fong says the sixth death is an 86 year old man from Toorak who presented to the CWM Hospital in severe respiratory distress. His condition worsened in the hospital and he died on the same day 4th August. He received the first dose of the vaccine in early June. He did not receive the second dose of the vaccine.
The seventh death is an 85-year-old woman from Tailevu who died at home on 2nd August. She was not vaccinated.
The eighth COVID-19 death is a 55-year-old man from Tailevu who died at home on 2nd August. He was not vaccinated.
Doctor Fong says the ninth death is a 70-year-old woman from Tailevu who died at home on 2nd August. She was not vaccinated.
The tenth COVID-19 death is a 90-year-old man from Raiwai who died at home on 5th August. He was not vaccinated.
The eleventh death is an 85-year-old man from Naitasiri who died at home on 4th August. He was not vaccinated.
There have been 4 more deaths of COVID-19 positive patients. However, their deaths have been classified as non-COVID deaths by their doctors.
Doctors have determined that their deaths were caused by serious pre-existing medical conditions and not COVID-19.
With today’s newly reported deaths, there have now been 283 deaths due to COVID-19 in Fiji, with 281 of these deaths during the outbreak that started in April this year.
The 7 day rolling average of COVID-19 deaths per day is 6.
We also have recorded 146 COVID-19 positive patients who died from the serious medical conditions that they had before they contracted COVID-19; these are not classified as COVID-19 deaths.
Of the 968 new COVID cases, 292 cases are from the Western Division and 676 cases are from the Central Division.
A full breakdown of areas of interest will be published online tonight on the Ministry’s COVID-19 dashboard.
There have been 385 new recoveries reported since the last update, which means that there are now 23,226 active cases.
18,589 active cases are in the Central Division and 4,637 in the West.
There have been 34,818 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021.
Fiji has recorded 34,888 cases since the first case was reported in March 2020, with 11,233 recoveries.
With the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the Western Division, the health teams will no longer carry out contact tracing.
Permanent Secretary for Health, Doctor James Fong says the health response teams in the Western Division will now be redirected to the identification and close monitoring of people with COVID-19 symptoms who are at higher risk of developing severe COVID-19.
He says members of the public who return positive COVID-19 test results will be provided advice and resources to aid their self-isolation at home.
COVID-19 positive cases are encouraged to take responsibility and share information and advice with their known primary contacts.
Doctor Fong says clearance testing will no longer be required for primary contacts in the Western Division.
Primary contacts are required to self-isolate at home for 14-days from the day the known COVID-19 case they had close contact with, tested positive or 14 days from the day of the last contact with a known COVID-19 case.
He says workers requiring official leave from work can attend the nearest screening clinic or Health Care Facility to be checked and obtain a medical certificate for 14 days of self-isolation at home.
Residents for the whole of the Western Division from the Nadroga medical subdivision to the Ra medical subdivision are requested to note that the Ministry of Health and Medical Services will, in the coming days, be varying its public advisories and guidelines to reflect the evolving COVID-19 situation
Individuals experiencing COVID-19 symptoms: cough, runny nose, nasal congestion, sneezing, fatigue/extreme tiredness, headache, aches and pains, sore throat, fever, diarrhoea, red eyes (conjunctivitis), loss of taste or smell, and a rash on the skin should visit the nearest screening clinic for testing.
Pregnant women who test positive will also be provided immediate advice and care by the health teams at the screening facility.
Families and caregivers of the vulnerable including the elderly, are urged to monitor the health of their loved ones.
If they develop COVID-19 symptoms, please take them to the nearest screening clinic.
If an individual has a disability or is otherwise physically unable to leave their home and attend a screening clinic, in these exceptional circumstances, individuals can call 158 and request a home swabbing service.
The public is advised to please take responsibility to stop community transmission by continuing to practice the following: wear a mask, wash your hands regularly with soap and water or use a hand sanitiser, practice safe physical distancing of 2 metres apart, cover your cough and sneeze, wipe frequently touched surfaces and objects with disinfectant.
Get vaccinated and encourage your family members to vaccinate too.
Stay in your bubble and avoid close contact with people who do not live with you.
Businesses are also asked to take responsibility for the decontamination of their premises.
Doctor Fong says all major health facilities will continue to remain fully functional in all subdivisions in the West, providing emergency services, admissions, and inpatient care for COVID and non-COVID diseases.
Individuals who return positive test results for COVID-19 and are immediately asked to self-isolate will have food ration requests facilitated by the sub-divisional health teams in your area.
Fiji's 7-day average of new COVID cases per day is 1156 cases per day or 1193 cases per million population per day.
Permanent Secretary for Health, Doctor James Fong says the daily case numbers remain high, and daily test positivity remains high, indicating ongoing widespread community transmission in the Suva-Nausori containment zone.
Cases continue to increase in the West with evidence of community transmission in the division.
Doctor Fong says they are also recording increasing number of people with severe disease, and deaths in the West.
He says there are currently 311 COVID-19 patients admitted to the hospital.
63 patients are admitted at the Lautoka Hospital.
In Suva, 78 patients are admitted at the FEMAT Field Hospital, and 170 were admitted at CWM Hospital, St Giles, and Makoi.
48 patients are considered to be in severe condition, and 6 are in critical condition.
A total of 287,237 samples have been tested since this outbreak started in April 2021, with 330,098 tested since testing began in March 2020.
The national 7-day daily test average is 3401 tests per day or 3.8 tests per 1,000 population.
The national 7-day average daily test positivity is 32.4%.
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