STATEMENT BY THE PERMANENT SECRETARY FOR HEALTH & MEDICAL SERVICES DR. JAMES FONG - 05.06.21

Transmission Update
We have recorded 33 new cases since our last daily update yesterday. The latest cases are linked to the following clusters: 

Navosai - 5
Navy - 5 
IMT HQ - 2
IMT warehouse - 1
CWMH - 3
Waila - 13
Nawaka/Nadi Hospital - 2

2 cases from Khalsa and Vatuwaqa are under investigation to determine if they have links to other cases.

Sadly, a 38 year old woman, who had earlier been reported as testing positive for COVID-19 (case 488) at CWMH has died. However, she is not being counted as another COVID-19 death as she was already very ill due to other serious medical conditions for which she had been admitted to the hospital. Clinically her cause of death is related to these conditions rather than the incidental finding of a COVID-19 infection, which was picked up as a result of screening of all patients in the hospital.  

4  patients have recovered, which means there are now 406  active cases in isolation. There have been 534 cases during the current outbreak that started in April 2021.

We have recorded a total of 604 cases in Fiji since the first case in March 2020, with 193 recoveries, and 4 deaths due to COVID-19.

Testing Update
A total of 3677 samples were tested and reported  on 3 June. This does not yet include testing numbers from the lab at Nadi Hospital. The national  7 day  daily test average is 2765 tests per day or  3.1 per 1000 population. The national 7 day average daily test positivity is 1.1%. 
    
Vaccination Update
We have administered 206,658 first doses and 4,599 second doses nationwide since the beginning of our vaccination effort. This week (31 May through 4 June) we administered 70,693 first doses and 482 second doses. Breakdown of vaccinations by division is:

●    Central 25,678 first doses/420 second doses
●    Western 44,870 first doses/62 second doses  
●    Eastern 145 first doses

Vaccination Safety
Experience worldwide and in Fiji has shown that the COVID-19 vaccines in use--including the AstraZeneca vaccine that we are administering to people in Fiji--are effective and safe. 

All vaccines carry some risks, but adverse reactions to vaccines are rare. We have more than a century of experience with vaccines, and we can thank them for eradicating smallpox and preventing diseases like polio and measles, whose victims are largely children. 

On the other hand, illness from the coronavirus is not rare, and the consequences can be fatal. The vaccine helps to protect against severe disease. Citizens are urged to listen to the medical experts about vaccine safety, not random people spreading false information on social media and the Internet.