Fiji has recorded 636 new cases of COVID-19 and six deaths related to COVID-19 Tuesday.
Permanent secretary for Health Dr James Fong said 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 second 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,” said Dr Fong.
He said 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,” Dr Fong said.
The national 7-day average daily test positivity is 11.9% and continues on an upward trend, he said.
“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.
“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,” Dr Fong said.
SOURCE: PACNEWS
