We have recorded 262 new cases in the 24 hour period ending at 8.00am today.

5 cases are known contacts of cases from the Nawakalevu containment zone that have been undergoing 14 day quarantine in quarantine facilities in Nadi, 3 are contacts from within the existing Korovou cluster, while the remaining 254 cases are from the Lami-Suva-Nausori containment zone.  113 cases are from existing areas of interest in this zone, and 43 are from the following new areas of interest: Jittu Estate, MV Liohona Shipping, Milverton Rd, Natogadravu, Waikete Village, Nauluvatu Village. The remaining cases are contacts of known cases, cases that were seen in screening clinics and were swabbed, and cases under investigation to determine possible sources of transmission. 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 the new cases on the Ministry’s COVID-19 dashboard at the following link http://bit.ly/3vE2ZBb

There have been 17  new recoveries reported since the last update, which means that there are now 2813 active cases in isolation. There have been 3521 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021. We have recorded a total of 3591 cases in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020, with 753 recoveries.

There have been 15 deaths due to COVID-19 in Fiji, with 13 of these deaths during the outbreak that started in April this year. 2 deaths are still under investigation to determine if they were caused by COVID-19. We also have recorded 8 COVID-19 positive patients that died from the pre-existing non-COVID-19 related illnesses that they had been receiving treatment for at the CWM Hospital.

Testing Update

A total of 147,961 samples have been tested since this outbreak started in April 2021, with 190,822 tested since testing began in early 2020. 2908 tests have been reported for June 25th. The national 7-day daily test average is 2948 tests per day or 3.3 tests per 1000 population. The national 7-day average daily test positivity is 7.4% and continues on an upward trend.

Screening Update

In the last 24 hours, a total of 664 individuals were screened and 63 swabbed by our mobile screening teams bringing our cumulative total to 659,436 individuals screened and 53,169 swabbed since the start of this mobile screening program. A total of 3601 individuals were screened and 430 swabbed at our 56 stationery screening clinics throughout the country. This brings our cumulative total to 210,336 screened and 27319 swabbed at the stationery screening clinics to date.

Vaccination Update

Vaccination teams are on downtime over the weekend and will pick up the vaccination campaign again next Monday 28 June 2021.

Epidemic Outlook

The 7 day average of new cases per day has increased to 234 cases per day or 264 cases per million population per day. Our daily testing numbers have remained at a high level, and yet our test positivity continues to increase. All the evidence is that there is widespread community transmission in the Lami-Suva-Nausori containment zone. This means the outbreak is not confined to specific areas and everyone should take the necessary precautions and prevent themselves and their loved ones getting infected.

There are clusters of active cases in Naitasiri and one cluster in Korovou. There continue to be cases reported in Nadi, but so far they are from within the containment zone in the Nawajikuma, Nawakalevu, and Tramline containment area.

In Lautoka, there are 3 active cases currently, as announced previously.

To date, this outbreak appears contained to Viti Levu, with the Northern and Eastern divisions yet to detect a case.

Advice to the public

Stay home as much as possible, but if you have to leave your home, wear a mask that covers your nose and mouth, make sure you have the careFiji app downloaded and Bluetooth on if you have a smartphone, keep at least 2 metres between yourself and others outside your home. Wash your hands frequently with soap and water, or use an alcohol based hand sanitizer. Avoid crowds, and crowded, confined places.