PINA

-Fiji has recorded 918 new cases of COVID-19 and 15 deaths reported.

Permanent secretary for Health, Dr James Fong said that out of the 15 deaths, 12, or 80 per cent were those that were not vaccinated whereas the remaining three had been partially vaccinated. Seven additional deaths during the same period were attributed to non-COVID illnesses.

“The first COVID-19 death to report is a 75-year-old woman from Suva who died at home on 21/07/2021. She was not vaccinated.

“The second COVID-19 death to report is a 49-year-old man for Nadera who died at home on 20/07/2021. He was not vaccinated.

“The third COVID-19 death to report is a 83-year-old man from Tovata who died at home on 20/07/2021. He was not vaccinated.

“The fourth COVID-19 death to report is a 44-year-old man from Cunningham. He presented to the CWM Hospital in severe respiratory distress. He died on the same day in hospital (22/07/2021). He was not vaccinated.

“The fifth COVID-19 death to report is a 60-year-old man from Narere who died at home on 21/07/2021. He received the 1st dose of the vaccine in early-July. He did not receive the 2nd dose of the vaccine. This means he was not fully vaccinated.

“The sixth COVID-19 death to report is a 63-year-old man from Nabua who died at home on 20/07/2021. He received the 1st dose of the vaccine in mid-June. He did not receive the 2nd dose of the vaccine. This means he was not fully vaccinated.

“The seventh COVID-19 death to report is a 68- year old man from Nadera who died at home on 19/07/2021. He received the 1st dose of the vaccine in late June. He did not receive the 2nd dose of the vaccine. This means he was not fully vaccinated.

“The eighth COVID-19 death to report is a 63-year-old man from Waimanu Road who died at home on 20/07/2021. He was not vaccinated.

“The ninth COVID-19 death to report is a 84-year-old man from Kalekana who died at home on 20/07/2021. He was not vaccinated.

“The tenth COVID-19 death to report is a 53-year-old man from Toorak who died at home on 20/07/2021. He was not vaccinated.

“The eleventh COVID-19 death to report is a 63-year-old woman from Vatuwaqa who died at home on 20/07/2021. She was not vaccinated.

“The twelfth COVID-19 death to report is a 56-year-old man from Makoi who died at home on 20/07/2021. He was not vaccinated.

“The thirteenth COVID-19 death to report is a 72-year-old woman from Narere. She presented to the FEMAT field hospital in severe respiratory distress. She died on the same day at the hospital (21/07/2021). She was not vaccinated.

The fourteenth COVID-19 death to report is a 102-year-old woman from Cunningham who died at home on 20/07/2021. She was not vaccinated.

“The fifteenth COVID-19 death to report is a 80 -year old man from Cautata Village who died at home on 21/07/2021. He was not vaccinated,” said Dr Fong.

He said there have been seven more deaths of COVID-19 positive patients.

“Their deaths have been classified as non-COVID deaths by their doctors. Doctors have determined that these deaths were caused by serious pre-existing medical conditions and not COVID-19.

“There is one more death currently under investigation. This will be discussed once investigations (including test results) and classifications are complete.

“There have now been 161 deaths due to COVID-19 in Fiji, with 159 of these deaths during the outbreak that started in April this year. We also have recorded 68 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.

“There have been 179 new recoveries reported since the last update, which means that there are now 16,403 active cases. There have been 21,291 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021. We have recorded a total of 21, 361 cases in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020, with 4,729 recoveries,” he said.

As of the 21st July, 419,673 adults in Fiji have received their first dose of the vaccine and 86,505 have received their second doses. This means that 71.5% of the target population have received at least one dose and 14.7% are now fully vaccinated nationwide.

Dr Fong said the 7-day average of new cases per day is 1068 cases per day or 1207 cases per million population per day.

“With the high numbers of new daily cases we are also seeing increasing cases of severe disease and deaths,” he said.

Dr Fong said people who are symptomatic will no longer be tested for COVID-19, and should stay at home and strictly self isolate for 14 days.

“Most people infected with COVID-19 will have only mild symptoms like cough, runny nose, sore throat, fever, loss of taste or smell, body ache, headache, and can fully recover at home.

“For lower-risk individuals with COVID symptoms, we ask you to please stay at home for 14 days, isolate yourself from other family members, and continue to monitor your symptoms for severe COVID-19,” Dr Fong said.

SOURCE: PACNEWS

Fijian Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says there are no easy ways around this COVID-19 pandemic.

“We have to meet it head-on, and we are,” Bainimarama said in Suva while receiving more than 150,000 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine from the U.S Government.

He said Fijian frontline workers had been working tirelessly and selflessly in hospitals, homes, offices and informal settlements around the country to eradicate COVID-19, and “doctors, nurses and medical administrators are providing critical leadership.”

“Government has devoted all the resources at our disposal to support individuals and businesses who are suffering economically because of this pandemic,” the PM said.

“But we need to get to the permanent solution.

“Once we do, this virus will be like the many other diseases we have defeated through vaccines—like smallpox, polio, measles and leprosy.

“Vaccines are the permanent solution—the proven solution.”

Bainimarama said most Fijians were doing their part but more Fijians still needed to step up.

He said the Moderna vaccine has been approved specifically in the U.S and by the WHO for use by pregnant women, which should put some minds at ease.

Bainimarama said anyone who had had doubts about the vaccine because they or a family member was pregnant “should take heart and make arrangements for vaccination.”

He said beginning this week, women who had completed their first trimester of pregnancy would be able to receive the Moderna vaccine.

“Individuals above 60 years of age are also encouraged to get the Moderna vaccine for protection,” Bainimarama said.

The Moderna vaccine requires two doses to be fully effective.

SOURCE: FIJI TIMES/PACNEWS

-Vaccine rollout in Solomon Islands and across the Pacific is critical to economic recovery.

And Australia is leading efforts to vaccinate countries in the region with its vaccine dose supply expected to reach one million by the end of next week.

Australia’s Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Zed Seselja told Pacific journalists this week that his government is committed to supply up to 15 million doses to the Pacific and Timor-Leste by mid-2022.

He emphasised that getting vaccines into people’s arms is vital to re-starting Pacific economies.

“Getting vaccines, getting populations vaccinated, of course, in the short term will be one of the best ways to …start economies up.”

Seslja acknowledged the debt crisis many Pacific nations are facing.

“The best way to see budgets coming back will be when we see activity coming back, that will happen when there are more vaccinations.

“That would mean that people are able to run their businesses and trade is able to be more easily facilitated and in time, travel in the region will come back.

“And, of course, that is so important to so many economies in the Pacific.”

Continued economic reforms would also be important to making sure that economies recover strongly from the pandemic, the Minister said.

So far, around 750,000 Australian doses of AstraZeneca vaccines have been delivered to the Pacific and Timor-Leste.

Seselja said that amount is expected reach the million mark by the end of next week.

“The health security of our neighbours is critical to Australia’s health security and vaccines are critical to the region’s recovery,” he adds.

The Solomon Islands government has recently announced that the option of opening up national borders will be discussed if up to 80 per cent of the population is vaccinated.

To date, just under 30,000 people have been vaccinated in the country.

Prime Minister, Manasseh Sogavare on Monday said the target population for the nationwide vaccination strategy is 414,500, and these are citizens above the age of 18.

“If the whole 414,500 adults in our country are vaccinated, this constitutes about 64 per cent of our population which would offer some level of protection to the other 36 per cent of our population that cannot be vaccinated,” he said.

Prime Minister Sogavare said citizens that cannot be vaccinated rely on those that can be vaccinated for their protection and for their lives.

SOURCE: ISLAND SUN/PACNEWS

New variants of the Covid-19 virus will make it hard for countries like Cook Islands to achieve herd immunity, says a leading Pacific health expert.

Herd immunity is no guarantee, says Doctor Collin Tukuitonga from the University of Auckland.

“The problem with herd immunity, it’s not like you get to this per cent and everybody is sweet,” said Dr Tukuitonga.

“Herd immunity is not a per cent, it’s not trying to get to 80 or 90 per cent or whatever, it’s a bit more complicated than that.”

In the Cook Islands, both Aitutaki and Rarotonga has just over 90 per cent of its total eligible population fully vaccinated by Pfizer against the virus.

The rollout has reached the northern group islands as the country hopes to achieve herd immunity when the vaccination programme ends next month.

But Dr Tukuitonga said new variants of the Covid-19 virus are constantly emerging which makes it hard to know if a country has achieved herd immunity.

“People have latched on to this idea once we get to this per cent, we will all be sweet and no need to worry about anything. It’s not as straightforward as that,” he said.

Niue was celebrated in the media a week ago after they reached “herd immunity”.

But Dr Tukuitonga, while commending Niue for its vaccination effort, said this was not necessarily the case.

He said Niue may have herd immunity against “boring old original coronavirus” but maybe not against new strains like Delta variant.

Dr Tukuitonga said there’s not going to be a situation in the foreseeable future where countries can relax if they reach a certain vaccine percentage.

Cook Islands News reached out to Te Marae Ora Ministry of Health for the percentage of the eligible population fully vaccinated but have got no response.

But from previous information provided by TMO, Cook Islands News estimates more than 90 per cent of the eligible population will be fully vaccinated when the rollout is completed.

According to One World in Data, Cook Islands had given a total of 18,942 doses and 9187 people are fully vaccinated, representing only 52.6 per cent of the country’s total population.

The Pa Enua is more than 90 per cent vaccinated for its first dose, with many islands getting the whole eligible population vaccinated.

Some of the outer islands have also begun receiving their second dose.

Despite the high vaccine uptake, Prime Minister Mark Brown said the country will still take a cautious approach to its borders.

“We are taking a cautious step by step approach,” Brown said. “That has been our approach, that has allowed us to be open to New Zealand for just on two months now.

“Let’s see how that pans out.”

Brown said the country’s next step is to look at including Australia in the travel bubble.

“As we can see in New South Wales and Victoria the situation can change very quickly. We will keep a close eye on the results of the response to their outbreaks first before progressing things,” he said.

“So for now, let’s see how things develop in the rest of the world in the next few months.”

Dr Tukuitonga believes Cook Islands could open to more nations if 90 per cent of the eligible population were fully vaccinated.

However, he said if Cook Islands opened its borders to other nations, people would need to remain vigilant.

“I imagine for the Cooks and Niue, there’s no reason why they can’t open up, they can open up now,” he said.

“The point is it’s not a guarantee they won’t get the virus when they operate in a quarantine free two-way travel.”

The United Kingdom celebrated “freedom day” on July 19, which marked the end of Covid-19 restrictions despite more than 45,000 new cases and 96 deaths reported Tuesday.

The easing of restrictions included face masks no longer being compulsory in most places and the government is no longer instructing people to work from home.

On a similar vein but less extreme, the Australian government have put in a four-phase plan to return to normal.

A total of 191 million cases and 4.1 million Covid-19 deaths have been recorded worldwide since the outbreak in China in late 2019.

SOURCE: COOK ISLANDS NEWS/PACNEWS