Last Updated on 3 years by Publishing Team
Media Release
COVID-19 Daily Update
Monday, 13th September 2021
Transmission Update
We have 127 new cases of COVID-19 to report for the 24 hour period that ended at 8 am today. 83 cases are from the Western Division, 36 cases are from the Central Division and 8 cases are from the Eastern Division.
There have been 12 new recoveries to report since the last update, which means that there are now 12,925 active cases. 1,503 active cases are in the Central Division, 11,117 active cases in the Western Division, 2 active cases in the Northern Division (Macuata), and 303 active cases in the Eastern Division (all in Kadavu). We are currently reviewing and reconciling our active case database with recoveries and as a result, we expect the recovery numbers to intermittently change markedly as verifications are made.
There have been 49,043 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021. We have recorded a total of 49,113 cases in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020, with 35,284 recoveries.
Deaths
There are 3 new COVID-19 deaths to report for the period of 10th – 12th September 2021. Two deaths were reported for the Central Division and one death was reported from the Western Division.
The first COVID-19 death to report is a 60-year-old woman from Waya Island. She presented to the Yalobi Nursing Station in severe respiratory distress. Her family reported that she had a fever, sore throat, and a cough one week prior to her presentation. She was retrieved by a medical team and transferred to the Lautoka Hospital. Sadly, she died 5 days after admission on 12/09/2021. She was not vaccinated.
The second COVID-19 death to report is an 81-year-old woman from Tailevu who died at home on 10/09/2021. She was not vaccinated.
The third COVID-19 death to report is an 80-year-old man from Navua who died at home on 12/09/2021. He was not vaccinated.
There has been 1 more death of a COVID-19 positive patient. However, this death has been classified as a non-COVID death by their doctors. The doctors have determined that this death was caused by a serious pre-existing medical condition and not COVID-19.
There have now been 538 deaths due to COVID-19 in Fiji, with 536 of these deaths during the outbreak that started in April this year. Please note that due to the time required by clinical teams to investigate, classify and report deaths, a 4-day interval is given to calculate the 7 day rolling average of deaths, based on the date of death, in order to help ensure the data collected is complete before the average is reported. Therefore, as of September 8th, the national 7 days rolling average of COVID-19 deaths per day is 2. The 7 day rolling average for COVID-19 deaths per day in the Central Division is 1 and in the Western Division is 1.
We also have recorded 366 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.
Hospitalisations
There are currently 117 COVID-19 patients admitted to the hospital. 44 patients are admitted at the Lautoka Hospital, 8 patients are admitted at the FEMAT field hospital, and 65 admitted at CWM hospital, St Giles, and Makoi. 12 patients are considered to be in severe condition, and 3 are in critical condition.
Screening Update
A total of 748 individuals were screened and 77 swabbed at our stationary screening clinics in the last 24 hours, bringing our cumulative total to 568,107 individuals screened and 93,849 swabbed to date. Our mobile screening teams screened a total of 581 individuals and swabbed 130. This brings our cumulative total to 829,608 individuals screened and 73,920 swabbed by our mobile teams.
Testing Update
A total of 348,237 samples have been tested since this outbreak started in April 2021, with 391,098 tested since testing began in March 2020. 712 tests have been reported for September 12th. Lab testing data is pending from one lab. Therefore, lab testing data is expected to increase. The 7-day daily test average is 1,069 tests per day or 1.2 tests per 1,000 population. Weekly testing is at 10.3 tests per 1000 population, which remains above the WHO recommended level of 4 per 1000 population per week. The national 7-day average daily test positivity is 16.5%, which is on a downward trend but still indicating a high level of community transmission.
Vaccination Update
As of the 12th of September, 569,958 adults in Fiji have received their first dose of the vaccine and 342,191 have received their second doses. This means that 97.2% of the target population have received at least one dose and 58.3% are now fully vaccinated nationwide.
Fijians can 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 is 160 cases per day or 181 cases per million population per day. As previously announced by the Permanent Secretary, daily case numbers in Suva-Nausori are currently not being used as the sole indicator to monitor the progress of the outbreak. The Ministry is closely monitoring other indicators such as test positivity, hospitalisations, and deaths to track the progress of the outbreak.
With the decrease in testing numbers, testing remains above the WHO recommended rate of 4 per 1000 population per week (or approx. 3500 tests per week). We will be transitioning to community surveillance testing as severe disease numbers and positivity rates approach the containment phase levels.
Kadavu recorded 8 new cases in the last 24 hours bringing the total number of cases on the island to 473. Nine cases are admitted at Vunisea hospital; 4 are COVID positive and currently in stable condition, and 5 are negative for COVID-19. Mobile outreach teams continue their visits to villages and settlements carrying out follow-up of primary Contacts, Monitoring of Positive patients and clearance, Roll out of COVID-19 Vaccination, MCH clinic and immunization of babies, GOPD consultation, SOPD clinic, and drug replenishment. Movement restrictions and targeted village lockdowns for Tawava village and the villages in Yawe tikina remain in force.
No new cases have been reported for Malolo island in the last 24 hours. Daily assessment continues for the active cases and their contacts, and surveillance of the villages. Movement restrictions remain in force for all villages on the island.
The villages of Gunu and Nasoqo on Naviti island have recorded 39 cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to 146. Three positive cases have recovered leaving a total of 142 active cases under surveillance by the health team.
Testing on Waya island revealed 22 new cases in the last 24 hours, and these patients are now under home isolation in their villages. The island is also under strict movement restrictions.
Nacula village and Naisisili village on Nacula island have recorded 21 cases in the last 24 hours. The positive cases are now under isolation in their respective villages and monitored daily by the health team from Nacula health centre. Strict movement restriction is now in place for the whole island.
Public Updates and Advice:
The Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MOHMS) is sending a team of 20 healthcare and allied healthcare workers to Yanuca and Beqa Island tomorrow morning (14/09/2021) for 3 days. The team is planned to conduct mass swabbing of the 10 villages, conduct assessments of individuals considered high risk and/or vulnerable, and conduct awareness of COVID-19 in these communities.
We are truly thankful to the village elders and leaders who have helped in our quest to contain and/or mitigate the outbreak in the affected maritime islands. However, we repeat our call to the maritime islanders; please do not engage in unauthorized travel to and from Viti Levu. All our current protocols to regulate domestic movements have been working in removing the risk of viral leakage into your communities. As such we appeal for adherence to the protocols we have in place.
For those islands yet to be affected, we repeat our call to all village leaders and elders to support our current efforts to protect our maritime islands by immediately reporting any suspicious movements into your community and having in place quarantine/isolation measures to deal with all travelers into their respective community. We also appeal for community support for Vaccination; escalating vaccination efforts before the virus gets to your islands protects you better than having to escalate vaccination in the middle of an epidemic. Vaccination is a prevention measure.
