FULL STORY: 7 COVID-19 deaths since confirmation of Fiji's 3rd wave

There are 113 people currently admitted in hospitals around the country with COVID-19.

This has been confirmed in the latest update by Permanent Secretary for Health Doctor James Fong.

None of these people admitted in the hospital with COVID-19 are in severe or critical condition.

There 53 COVID-19 patients in the hospital in the Central Division compared to 39 in the Northern Division. The Western Division has 21 patients in the hospital.

Doctor Fong says while most of the more severe public health and social measures are based on changes in hospitalization data, the evidence is clear that we do need to keep up with measures to suppress transmission so that hospitalization numbers remain low.

He says the evidence is that Omicron causes less severe disease than other variants however, it infects a larger number of people in a shorter period of time.

Doctor Fong adds this means even a smaller percentage of people becoming severely ill may still mean a large number requiring hospitalization which will put pressure on the health system.

Permanent Secretary for Health Doctor James Fong has confirmed that they will be announcing more stringent measures related to masking and social gatherings later this week.

He says they have always promoted individual COVID safe measures, even during the period of local cases prior to the current outbreak however it is evident that they need to have in place more stringent community-level measures to further enforce the message they are promoting.

Doctor Fong stresses that their testing capability is being tested at present and as such the public is reminded that they will need to prioritize testing for people at higher risk of severe disease to prevent severe outcomes as well as to suppress transmission.

He adds the festive season has brought about the significant movement of people as families reunite to celebrate Christmas and New Year.

Doctor Fong says gatherings have been observed where COVID-safe measures have not been followed or people have attended while having symptoms.

He says you should assume you are infected, and self-isolate, if you develop any cold/flu-like symptoms such as runny nose, sneezing, nasal congestion, sore throat, cough, body ache, fever.

Doctor Fong further adds if you have any of these symptoms, please stay home to prevent infecting others, especially those who may be more at risk of severe disease.

He adds you should get tested if you can, but especially if you are at higher risk of severe disease.

Doctor Fong stresses you are at higher risk of severe disease if you are over the age of 50, or have any significant chronic disease like heart disease, kidney disease, lung disease, diabetes, hypertension or you are obese or pregnant.

He says if anyone in your home is at higher risk of developing severe disease, please try to isolate yourself away from them.

Doctor Fong confirms the isolation period is for 10 days.

He further says you may stop isolating once 10 days have passed since the start of symptoms (with at least 3 consecutive days of no symptoms) or since the positive test (for asymptomatic cases).

Doctor Fong adds the Ministry of Health is using a 7-day isolation period for their staff, requiring a negative rapid antigen test on days 6 and 7 to help maintain essential health services.

He says for the general public, a 10 day quarantine period will apply to all individuals who are close contacts of a case.

The Permanent Secretary says you do not need to be tested if you are a close contact unless you develop symptoms.

Doctor Fong adds a close contact is anyone who lives in the same house as a case, or has been in a confined space for at least 1 hour, or has come within 2 metres, or has had any physical contact, in the 2 days before the case’s symptoms started and up to ten days after.

596 new cases of COVID-19 have been recorded by the Health Ministry since Tuesday.

Permanent Secretary for Health Doctor James Fong says 224 new cases were recorded on Tuesday and 372 new cases were recorded in the last 24 hours ending at 8am yesterday.

He says of the 372 cases recorded in the last 24 hours, 254 cases were recorded in the Central Division; 103 cases were recorded in the Western Division, 6 cases were recorded in the Northern Division and 9 cases were recorded in the Eastern Division.

Doctor Fong confirms the national 7-day average daily test positivity is 34.2%, which is above the WHO recommendation of 5%.

He says the high positivity rate is an indication of wider spread community transmission.

29,640 children between the ages of 15 to 17 are fully vaccinated while 36,814 children have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

10,657 children between the ages of 12 to 14 have received both the doses of the vaccine while 21,640 have received at least one jab.

92.2% of the adult target population in Fiji are fully vaccinated while 97.8% have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

This means 569,791 Fijians have received both doses of a vaccine while 604,488 adults have received at least one jab.