Fiji has recorded 49 new cases of COVID-19 and four deaths Tuesday, increasing the total number of cases in the island nation to 51,203 and 636 deaths since the outbreak in April.
Permanent secretary for Health, Dr James Fong said there have been 62 new recoveries to report since the last update, which means that there are now 8,871 active cases.
“There have been 51,203 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021. We have recorded a total of 51,273 cases in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020, with 41,251 recoveries,” he said.
Dr Fong said four new COVID-19 deaths reported for the period of 05 August -03 October 2021. All four COVID-19 deaths have been reported from the Central Division.
He said the two deaths reported Tuesday due to a delay in the issuance of the official death certificate from August included a 9-year-old child.
“There have been 10 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 638 deaths due to COVID-19 in Fiji, with 636 of these deaths during the outbreak that started in April this year. As of 30 September, the national seven days rolling average of COVID-19 deaths per day is 0.8. The seven days rolling average for COVID-19 deaths per day in the Central division is 0.1 and 0.7 in the Western sivision.
“We have also recorded 513 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 74 COVID-19 patients admitted to hospitals in Fiji.
“40 patients are admitted at the Lautoka Hospital and 34 are admitted at CWM hospital, St Giles, and Makoi.
“Six patients are considered to be in severe condition, and six are in critical condition,” said Dr Fong.
The national seven-day average daily test positivity is 5.4 percent, which is on a downward trend, but it still is indicating a high level of community transmission, he said.
A total of 593,842 adults in Fiji have received their first dose of the vaccine and 470,867 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 76.2 percent are now fully vaccinated nationwide.
“As for children, 21,062 children in Fiji have received their first dose of the vaccine as of 04/10/2021. 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
