STATEMENT BY THE PERMANENT SECRETARY FOR HEALTH & MEDICAL SERVICES DR. JAMES FONG - 10.06.21

Transmission Update
We have 39 new cases of COVID-19 to report since yesterday’s update. 32 of the new cases are linked to the following existing clusters:

Nawaka, Nadi - 6
CWMH - 11
Nasinu Police Barracks - 5
FICAC Warehouse- 3
Navy - 2
Waila - 2
IMT - 1
Naitasiri - 1
Caubati - 1

The additional cases 7 below are under investigation to determine if they have any links to other cases:

Lami-4 cases
Toorak-1 case
Nasinu - 1 case
Reservoir Road - 1 case

The current outbreak remains primarily centred within the Lami-Suva-Nausori Containment Zone. Our mitigation strategy announced yesterday is targeted at isolating cases, treating patients who develop severe cases of the disease, and ensuring that vaccines continue to be administered to the public. In the near-term, we are concerned that Lami may see increasing numbers of cases. We also anticipate more cases from the cluster at the Police Barracks in Nasinu. Our stationary and mobile screening teams are tracing and testing known contacts and are isolating positive patients to prevent further spread of the virus. 

7 patients have recovered, which means there are now 656 active cases in isolation. There have been 849 cases during the current outbreak that started in April 2021.

We have recorded a total of 919 cases in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020. There have been 256 recoveries, and 4 deaths due to COVID-19. A total of 3 COVID-19 positive patients have died from pre-existing non-COVID-19 related illnesses.

Vaccine Update
To-date, 228,030 people in Fiji have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Vaccine administration in Nadi had been temporarily halted due to a case among the administration teams. Relevant personnel have since been cleared and vaccine administration in Nadi has resumed.  

Testing Update
A total of 97,094 samples have been tested since this outbreak started in April 2021, with 139,955 tested since testing began in early 2020. 
 
3711 test results have been reported for 9 June. For 8 June, the remaining testing number data has now been received from all laboratories. Therefore, the total number of tests for 8 June is now 3517. The national 7-day daily test average is 3171 tests per day or 3.6 per 1000 population. The national 7-day average daily test positivity is 1.9%.