Media Release

COVID-19 Daily Update

Monday, 5^th July 2021

 Transmission Update

We have 352 new cases of COVID-19 and 3 COVID-19 deaths to report for the 24 hour period that ended at 8 am today. A full breakdown of areas of interest has been published online on the Ministry’s COVID-19 dashboard and on the Fijian Government Facebook page. You can also view the approximate locations of cases at the following link: http://bit.ly/3vE2ZBb

The first COVID-19 death is a 54-year-old man from Naikurukuru, Lami. He was declared dead on arrival by the attending medical officer at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital Emergency Department. This means that he either died at home or on the way to the hospital. His family reported that the individual had been unwell for at least a week with fever, headache, and generalized weakness. He was not vaccinated.

The second COVID-19 death was a 62-year-old woman from Davuilevu who died at home. Her family reported that she had a fever, weakness, and a reduced appetite for at least three days. She was not vaccinated.

The third COVID-19 death was a 60-year-old woman, from Vatuwaqa. She presented to the FEMAT field hospital in severe respiratory distress and died on the same day. She was not vaccinated.

There have been 2 more deaths of COVID-19 positive patients. However, these 2 deaths have been classified as non-COVID deaths by doctors as their deaths have been determined to be caused by pre-existing medical conditions.

There have now been 33 deaths due to COVID-19 in Fiji, with 31 of these deaths during the outbreak that started in April this year. We also have recorded 15 COVID-19 positive patients who died from the serious medical conditions that they had before they contracted COVID-19.

There have been 78 new recoveries reported since the last update, which means that there are now 5,178 active cases in isolation. There have been 6,443 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021. We have recorded a total of 6,513 cases in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020, with 1287 recoveries.

Screening Update

A total of 1,532 individuals were screened and 480 swabbed at our stationary screening clinics in the last 24 hours, bringing our cumulative total to 245,323 individuals screened and 34,261 swabbed to date. Our mobile screening teams screened a total of 748 individuals and swabbed 596 in the last 24 hours. This brings our cumulative total to 673,110 individuals screened and 55,825 swabbed by our mobile teams to date.

Testing update

As testing number data is still being received from laboratories, testing data will be updated in tomorrow’s daily update.

Vaccination Update

To date, 318, 830 adults in Fiji have received their first dose of the vaccine and 52,592 have received their second doses. This means that 54 % of the target population has received at least one dose and 9.0 % are now fully vaccinated nationwide.

Fijians are reminded to check the Ministry’s vaccine dashboard to find real-time data on first-dose and second-dose numbers at the national, divisional, and sub-divisional levels. You can access the live dashboard at http://bit.ly/3h2JfCZ

Epidemic Outlook

The 7-day average of new cases per day has increased to 383 cases per day or 433 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.

It remains a serious concern that some people with the severe disease come to a medical facility only in the late stages of their illness. And we are still sadly seeing people with the severe disease die at home or on the way to the hospital before our medical teams have a chance to administer what could potentially be a life-saving treatment.

We need all Fijians to know the severe symptoms of COVID-19, which include:

• Difficulty breathing
• Persistent pain or pressure in the chest
• Severe headache for a few days
• New confusion, inability to wake or stay awake; and
• Pale, gray, or blue-colored skin, lips, or nail beds.

If you or a loved one have any of these symptoms please go immediately to your nearest medical facility.