Fiji records 55 new cases of COVID-19, nine deaths reported

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Fiji has recorded 55 new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday, increasing the total number of cases to 51,258 and 645 deaths since the outbreak in April this year.

Permanent secretary for Health, Dr James Fong said there have been 6,040 new recoveries to report since the last update, which means that there are now 2,864 active cases.

“There have been 51,258 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021. We have recorded a total of 51,328 cases in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020, with 47,291 recoveries,” said Dr Fong.

He said nine new COVID-19 deaths reported for the period of 17 July -03 October 2021. Eight COVID-19 deaths have been reported from the Central division and one death has been reported from the Western division.

Dr Fong said five deaths reported from July and three deaths reported from August due to a delay in the issuance of their official death certificate.

“There have been 13 more 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 647 deaths due to COVID-19 in Fiji, with 645 of these deaths during the outbreak that started in April this year. As of 01 October, the national seven days rolling average of COVID-19 deaths per day is 1.0. The seven days rolling average for COVID-19 deaths per day in the Central division is 0.6 and 0.4 in the Western division.

“We have also recorded 526 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,” Dr Fong explained.

He said there are currently 58 COVID-19 patients admitted to hospitals in Fiji.

“34 patients are admitted at the Lautoka Hospital and 24 are admitted at CWM hospital, St Giles, and Makoi.

“Six patients are considered to be in severe condition, and three are in critical condition,” Dr Fong said.

The national seven-day average daily test positivity is 5.3 percent, which is on a downward trend, but it still is indicating a high level of community transmission, he said.

A total of 594,242 adults in Fiji have received their first dose of the vaccine and 478,535 have received their second doses.

“Based on our updated total population of 618,173 people aged 18 years and over (adults), the vaccination coverage rates are 96.1 percent for adults who have received at least one dose, and 77.4 percent are now fully vaccinated nationwide.

“As for children, 22,130 children in Fiji have received their first dose of the vaccine as of 05/10/2021. We will be tracking our vaccine coverage rates once we have firmed up our 15 to 17-year-olds age group denominator,” said Dr Fong.

SOURCE: PACNEWS