Fiji

Ministry of Health’s Permanent Secretary, Dr James Fong said five of the new cases are contacts of cases who are undergoing 14 days of quarantine in facilities in Nadi, adding that the rest of the cases are from the Suva-Nausori containment zone.

Dr Fong said the first death from COVID-19 is a 66-year-old woman from Valelevu who was declared dead on arrival by doctors at the emergency department at CWM Hospital.

He further clarified that this means the woman died at home or on the way to hospital.

Ministry of Health’s Permanent Secretary Doctor James Fong said the new cases are mainly from the Central and Western Divisions.

There are two cases that have been identified at the Malau Quarantine Facility in Labasa.

Doctor Fong said these two cases are noted to be repatriates from the Central Division and are in quarantine.

The Ministry of Health said there have also been five deaths of COVID-19 positive patients since the last update.

Ministry of Health’s Permanent Secretary, Doctor James Fong said the first death was a 74-year-old man was brought to FEMAT in Suva in acute respiratory distress.

The second case was a 71-year-old man also brought to FEMAT unresponsive.

A death which was previously under investigation has now been classified by the clinical team also as a COVID death.

There have now been 24 deaths due to COVID-19 in Fiji, with 22 during the outbreak that started in April this year.

Minister of Education Hu’akavameiliku told Parliament yesterday that the person is in stable condition.

Kaniva News reports however, he gave no further details.

Fiji reported 312 new positive COVID-19 cases and four deaths as at 8am yesterday (Tuesday).

This is the highest number of cases in a 24-hour period since the second wave of COVID-19 cases began on 19 April this year.

There are currently 3306 active cases.

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Ministry of Health’s Permanent Secretary, Doctor James Fong said the first death is a case that was previously announced as under investigation to determine if COVID-19 was the cause.

The deceased is an 82-year-old woman from Qauia in Lami and was not vaccinated.

She had pre-existing medical conditions, was bedridden, and died at home.

According to protocol she was swabbed and tested positive for COVID-19.

The elderly woman was declared dead by the attending medical officer and after investigation, it has been determined that the cause of death was COVID-19.

The Ministry of Health has confirmed that five cases are corrections officers from Suva at the Fiji Sugar Corporation Compound in Rakiraki in the north of the main island of Viti Levu.

Permanent Secretary, Doctor James Fong said they were undergoing 14 days quarantine at the FSC compound as part of the essential movement from the red zone to the green zone when they tested positive.

The remaining cases are from the Lami-Suva-Nausori containment zone.

The Ministry of Health’s Permanent Secretary, Dr James Fong said five cases are known contacts of cases from the Nawakalevu containment zone that has been undergoing 14 day quarantine in quarantine facilities in Nadi, three are from within the existing Korovou cluster, while the remaining 254 cases are from the Lami-Suva-Nausori containment zone.

Dr Fong added that 113 cases are from existing areas of interest in this zone, and 43 are from new areas of interest.

The Health Ministry says one case is from the Nawakalevu containment area in Nadi, while the remaining 265 cases are from the Lami-Suva-Nausori containment zone.

Health Secretary James Fong said 102 cases are from existing clusters in this zone, and there are no new clusters to report.

He said the remaining cases are contacts of known cases, cases that were seen in screening clinics and were swabbed, and cases under investigation to determine possible sources of transmission.

There have been 14 deaths from COVID-19 and 12 were from this outbreak alone while 8 COVID-19 positive patients have died from pre-existing illnesses.

Meanwhile, Fiji's total case count of the current outbreak of the Delta variant of COVID, which began in mid April, now stands at 2363 after another 215 cases were recorded between 8pm Thursday and 8am Friday morning. Fiji's test positivity ratio is now 6.3%.

Ministry of Health’s Permanent Secretary, Doctor James Fong said of the new cases, 297 are from the Lami-Nausori Containment Zone, and 11 are from Tramline Nadi.

218 of the cases in Lami-Suva-Nausori are from existing areas of interest, including 153 from Qauia settlement in Lami.

12 cases are from new areas of interest that include Goodman Fielder, Goundar Shipping Company, Nausori Police Barracks, and St. Giles Hospital.

The remaining cases are contacts of known cases, or cases that were seen in screening clinics and were swabbed.