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Fiji has reported yet another record number of daily cases with 636 new cases of Covid-19 in the 24 hour period to 8am Tuesday 7 July 2021.
The Health Ministry also confirmed six more deaths due to the Delta variant of the virus, bringing the toll to 39. However, 16 more COVID-19 positive patients have died, but have been declared as causes “from the serious medical conditions that they had before they contracted COVID-19”.
There are now 5,776 active cases in isolation, with 31 new recoveries recorded in this 24 hour period.
Fiji has recorded 7,079 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021 and a total of 7,149 cases in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020. Total recoveries sits at 1,318.
Ministry Update
Transmission Update
We have 636 new cases of COVID-19 and 6 COVID-19 deaths to report for the 24 hour period that ended at 8 am today. A full breakdown of areas of interest has been published online on the Ministry’s COVID-19 dashboard and on the Fijian Government Facebook page. You can also view the approximate locations of cases at the following link: http://bit.ly/3vE2ZBb
The first COVID-19 death is a 74-year-old woman from Delainavesi, Lami. She presented to the FEMAT field hospital in respiratory distress and died on the same day. She was not vaccinated.
The second COVID-19 death is a 74-year-old woman from Raiwaqa. She was admitted to CWMH Hospital for treatment of a serious non-COVID-related medical condition and later tested positive in the hospital. After investigation, her doctors have determined that her death was caused by COVID-19 and not the prior medical condition. She was not vaccinated.
The third COVID-19 death is an 80-year-old man, from Suva. One of our response teams was called to attend to him at home and he was then transferred to CWM Hospital after being assessed to have severe symptoms including shortness of breath. Unfortunately, he developed severe respiratory distress and died two days later. He had received the 1st dose of the vaccine in the first week of June. However, he had not received the 2nd dose and was not fully vaccinated.
The fourth COVID-19 death is a 43-year-old woman from Makoi. She was admitted to CWMH Hospital for treatment of a serious non-COVID-related medical condition and later tested positive in hospital. After investigation, her doctors have determined that her death was caused by COVID-19 and not her prior medical condition. She had received the 1st dose of the vaccine at the end of April. However, she had not had the 2nd dose and was not fully vaccinated.
The fifth COVID-19 death is a 70-year-old man from Nausori. He presented to the FEMAT field hospital in severe respiratory distress and died on the same day. He received his 1st dose of the vaccine in the first week of June. However, he had not received the 2nd dose and was not fully vaccinated.
The sixth COVID-19 death is a 63-year-old man from Nailuva Road. He presented to the FEMAT field hospital in severe respiratory distress and died on the same day. He was not vaccinated.
There has been one more death of a COVID-19 positive patient. However, this death has been classified as non-COVID death by doctors. Doctors have determined that his death was caused by a serious pre-existing medical condition.
There have now been 39 deaths due to COVID-19 in Fiji, with 37 of these deaths during the outbreak that started in April this year. We also have recorded 16 COVID-19 positive patients who died from the serious medical conditions that they had before they contracted COVID-19.
There have been 31 new recoveries reported since the last update, which means that there are now 5,776 active cases in isolation. There have been 7,079 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021. We have recorded a total of 7,149 cases in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020, with 1,318 recoveries.
Screening Update
A total of 6,176 individuals were screened and 1349 swabbed at our stationary screening clinics in the last 24 hours, bringing our cumulative total to 251,499 individuals screened and 35,610 swabbed to date. Our mobile screening teams screened a total of 3,819 individuals and swabbed 327 in the last 24 hours. This brings our cumulative total to 676,929 individuals screened and 56,152 swabbed by our mobile teams to date.
Testing Update
A total of 176,849 samples have been tested since this outbreak started in April 2021, with 219,710 tested since testing began in early 2020. 3510 tests have been reported for July 4th. Testing number data for all labs for July 3rd is still being received and so the testing number is expected to increase once updated. The national 7-day daily test average is 3,243 tests per day or 3.7 tests per 1,000 population. The national 7-day average daily test positivity is 11.9% and continues on an upward trend.
Vaccination Update
To date, 324,462 adults in Fiji have received their first dose of the vaccine and 54,737 have received their second doses. This means that 55% of the target population has received at least one dose and 9.3% are now fully vaccinated nationwide.
Fijians are reminded to check the Ministry’s vaccine dashboard to find real-time data on first-dose and second-dose numbers at the national, divisional, and sub-divisional levels. You can access the live dashboard at http://bit.ly/3h2JfCZ
Epidemic Outlook
The 7-day average of new cases per day has increased to 429 cases per day or 485 cases per million population per day. As expected, with the increasing case numbers we are also seeing increasing numbers of people with severe disease and more deaths in the Suva-Nausori containment zone.
We continue to see people with severe COVID-19 dying at home or coming to a medical facility in the late stages of severe illness and dying within a day or two. Severe COVID-19 is a medical emergency and a delay in receiving appropriate medical treatment may result in a higher risk of death.
Steam inhalation therapy (kuvui) is commonly used as a home remedy to provide relief from congested nasal passages, and symptoms of cold or inflamed sinuses, or other mild COVID-19 symptoms. However, steam therapy is not a treatment for severe COVID-19. Severe COVID-19 is a medical emergency, and relying completely on home remedies can delay urgent medical treatment.
We need all Fijians to know the severe symptoms of COVID-19, which include:
• Difficulty breathing
• Persistent pain or pressure in the chest
• Severe headache for a few days
• New confusion, inability to wake or stay awake; and
• Pale, gray, or blue-coloured skin, lips or nail beds.
If you or a loved one have any of these symptoms please go immediately to your nearest medical facility or call 165 if unable to get to a medical facility.
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