STATEMENT BY THE PERMANENT SECRETARY FOR HEALTH & MEDICAL SERVICES DR. JAMES FONG - 22.06.21

22/06/2021


Transmission Update
We have recorded 180 new cases in the 24 hour period ending at 8.00am today. This includes 2 family members from Drasa Vitogo in Lautoka that presented to Punjas Health Centre - investigations are ongoing into these cases. The active case distribution, including the new cases, reported today,  may be viewed on the map at the following link http://bit.ly/3vE2ZBb

Deaths
There have been 3 deaths at CWM Hospital. The first is a 68 year old admitted to the hospital for a pre-existing non-COVID medical condition. He tested positive during his admission and his doctors have confirmed his death as a COVID-19 death. 

The second is a 57 year old who was also admitted to the hospital for a pre-existing non-COVID medical condition. He also tested positive during his admission, and his doctors are investigating to determine if his death was caused by COVID-19. 

The third death is a 66 year old who was declared dead on arrival to the emergency department at CWMH, according to protocol she was swabbed and also tested positive to COVID-19. Her doctors are conducting investigations to determine if her death was caused by COVID-19.

The death of the 42 year old male at CWM Hospital announced yesterday has now been classified as a COVID-19 death. There have now been 9 deaths due to COVID-19, with 7 of these deaths during the outbreak that started in April this year. 2 deaths are under investigation to determine if they were caused by COVID-19, and 8 COVID-19 positive patients have died from pre-existing non-COVID-19 related illnesses.

There have been 86 recoveries since the last update, which means that there are now 1631 active cases in isolation. There have been 2200 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021.  We have recorded a total of 2270 cases in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020, with 618 recoveries.

Testing Update
A total of 132,761 samples have been tested since this outbreak started in April 2021, with 175,622 tested since testing began in early 2020. 2459 tests have been reported for June 20th. The national 7-day daily test average is 3124 tests per day or 3.5 tests per 1000 population. The national 7-day average daily test positivity is 4.4% and continues on an upward trend despite high levels of testing.

Screening Update
The 56 stationery screening clinics remain operational throughout the country. A total of 5,998 individuals were screened and 933 swabbed at the clinics in the last 24 hours. The mobile screening clinics have now screened 183,839 individuals and swabbed 22,784 individuals since commencement. 

Vaccination Update
44% of our target population –– 256,117 individuals in total –– have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. 18,000 individuals are now fully-vaccinated. In total, we have deployed 274,124 doses.