Fiji has recorded 177 new cases of COVID-19 and four new deaths Thursday, increasing the total number of cases to 50,377 and 581 deaths since the outbreak in April.
Permanent secretary for Health, Dr James Fong said there have been 170 new recoveries to report since the last update, which means that there are now 12,979active cases.
“There have been 50,377 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021. We have recorded a total of 50,447 cases in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020, with 36,460 recoveries.
“We have two new border quarantine cases to announce today. A first case is a 20-year-old man from Nadi and a second case is a 22-year-old man from Lautoka. They both arrived in Fiji on the 19th September 2021 at the Lautoka Seaport in a vessel that visited several other seaports. Although both individuals reported to have not disembarked the vessel at any of these ports due to COVID-19 restrictions, however, crew change over at one port is the possible source of infection transmission.
“The Fiji Border Health Protection Unit is currently investigating this. They have been retrieved as per protocol and transferred to our managed isolation facilities. Both individuals were noted to be symptomatic for COVID-19 but are currently stable,” Dr Fong explained.
He said the four new COVID-19 deaths reported for the period of 21 July- 18 August 2021. All four COVID-19 deaths reported are from the Central division.
Dr Fong said these deaths reported Thursday due to the delay in the issuance of the official death certificates.
“There have been 6 deaths of COVID-19 positive patients. However, these deaths have been classified as non-COVID deaths by their doctors. The doctors have determined that these deaths were caused by a serious pre-existing medical condition and not COVID-19.
“There have now been 583 deaths due to COVID-19 in Fiji, with 581 of these deaths during the outbreak that started in April this year. As of 18 September, the national seven days rolling average of COVID-19 deaths per day is 0.6. The seven days rolling average for COVID-19 deaths per day in the Central division is 0.3 and 0.3 in the Western division.
“We have also recorded 425 COVID-19 positive patients who died from the serious medical conditions that they had before they contracted COVID-19; these are not classified as COVID-19 deaths,” said Dr Fong.
He said there are currently 110 COVID-19 patients admitted to hospitals in Fiji.
“41 patients are admitted at the Lautoka Hospital and 69 are admitted at CWM hospital, St Giles, and Makoi.
“Seven patients are considered to be in severe condition, and two are in critical condition,” Dr Fong said.
The national seven-day average daily test positivity is 10 percent, which is on a downward trend, but it still is indicating a high level of community transmission, he said
As of 22 September, 589,830 adults in Fiji have received their first dose of the vaccine and 412,897 have received their second doses.
“Based on our updated total population of 618,173 people aged 18 years and over (adults), the revised vaccination coverage rates are 95.4 percent for adults who have received at least one dose, and 66.8 percent are now fully vaccinated nationwide.
“As for children, 11,409 children in Fiji have received their first dose of the vaccine as of the 22nd of September. We will be tracking our vaccine coverage rates once we have firmed up our 15 to 17-year-old denominator,” Dr Fong said.
SOURCE: PACNEWS
