STATEMENT BY THE PERMANENT SECRETARY FOR HEALTH & MEDICAL SERVICES DR. JAMES FONG - 15.07.21

Transmission Update

We have 1,220 new cases of COVID-19 to report for the 24 hour period that ended at 8am today. A full breakdown of areas of interest will be published online tonight on the Ministry’s COVID-19 dashboard and on the Fijian Government Facebook page. You will also be able to view the approximate locations of the new cases on the dashboard tomorrow at the following link: http://bit.ly/3vE2ZBb.

We also have 5 new COVID-19 deaths to report for the period of 10th July to 13th July. The first COVID-19 death to report is a 61 year old woman from Kinoya who died at home on 10/7/2021. Her family reported that she was feeling unwell with generalized body pain, weakness and a sore throat for 10 days. She was not vaccinated.

The second COVID-19 death to report is a 62 year old man from Tacirua. He presented to the CWM Hospital emergency department in severe respiratory distress. He died in hospital on the same day (13/7/2021). His family reported that he was unwell with fever, cough and generalized weakness for three days prior. He was not vaccinated.

The third COVID-19 death to report is a 66 year old woman from Nabua who died at home on the 13/7/2021. Her family reported that she was feeling unwell with a cough and shortness of breath for 3 days. She was not vaccinated.

The fourth COVID-19 death to report is a 60 year old woman from Verata who died at home on the 13/7/2021. She was not vaccinated.

The fifth COVID-19 death to report is a 78 year old woman from Nauluvatu Village. She was retrieved from home by a medical team and transferred to a healthcare facility. She was noted to be in severe respiratory distress. She died in the healthcare facility on the same day (13/7/2021). She was not vaccinated.

There have been two more deaths of COVID-19 positive patients. However, their deaths have been classified as non-COVID deaths by their doctors. Doctors have determined that these deaths were caused by serious pre-existing medical conditions and not COVID-19.

There have now been 74 deaths due to COVID-19 in Fiji, with 72 of these deaths during the outbreak that started in April this year. We also have recorded 31 COVID-19 positive patients who died from the serious medical conditions that they had before they contracted COVID19; these are not classified as COVID-19 deaths.

There have been 213 new recoveries reported since the last update, which means that there are now 11,033 active cases. There have been 13,816 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021. We have recorded a total of 13,886 cases in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020, with 2,748 recoveries.

There are eight other deaths currently under investigation. These will be discussed once investigations (including test results) and classifications are complete.

Screening Update
A total of 6,430 individuals were screened and 2,068 swabbed at our stationary screening clinics in the last 24 hours, bringing our cumulative total to 302,216 individuals screened and 50,493 swabbed to date. Our mobile screening teams screened a total of 3,803 individuals and swabbed 540 in the last 24 hours. This brings our cumulative total to 708,131 individuals screened and 60,420 swabbed by our mobile teams to date.

Testing update
A total of 211,823 samples have been tested since this outbreak started in April 2021, with 254,684 tested since testing began in March 2020. 3480 tests have been reported for July 13th. Testing number data for all labs until July 13th has now been received, except for one lab which is yet to update data after the 9th of July. Based on available testing numbers, the national 7-day daily test average is 3772 tests per day or 4.3 tests per 1,000 population. These numbers are expected to increase once all lab testing number data is received. The national 7-day average daily test positivity is 18% and continues on an upward trend.

Vaccination Update
As of the 14th July 377,090 adults in Fiji have received their first dose of the vaccine and 73,127 have received their second doses. This means that 64% of the target population have received at least one dose and 12.5 % are now fully vaccinated nationwide. Fijians can 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 is 746 cases per day or 844 cases per million population per day. Average daily case numbers are increasing, together with cases of severe disease and deaths.

Advice to the public
Sadly, people with severe COVID-19 are still dying at home or they are coming to a medical facility in the late stages of severe illness. Severe COVID-19 is a medical emergency, and a delay in receiving appropriate medical treatment reduces your chance of recovering from the disease.

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 hospital or medical facility or call 165 if you are unable to travel to a medical facility.