Afternoon Update

Transmission Update

We have recorded 22 new cases since the last update yesterday evening. Details of the new cases:

● 1 is a resident of Kinoya with no links to other cases at this early stage of investigation

● 2 were at the George Mate Medical Centre at Queen Elizabeth Barracks and are connected to the QEB cluster

● 7 naval officers and staff who are contacts of the first naval officer to test positive and are part of the navy cluster

● 12 are residents of Vunivivi in Nausori. They were found as part of screening of that area in connection with the navy cluster. Investigations have revealed that the navy, Waila, and Vunivivi clusters are connected through a common exposure event – a funeral.

We have recorded a total of 308 cases since March of last year with 155 recoveries and 4 deaths. There have been 238 cases during this current outbreak, and there are now 149 active cases.

Response Update

The Lautoka Hospital has ended their 21-day sequestration with almost all patients discharged today. Remaining staff will also be going home to their families by day end. The hospital is also discharging its last 2 COVID-19 patients later today, as they have recovered. With the recovery of these 2 patients there will be 0 active cases in the West, and it has also been 15 days since the last case was reported from that division.

We have received more detailed data regarding the effectiveness of our containment measures in the Northern and Western Divisions. We are reviewing our restrictions in the West and North and will be making more definitive announcements in the next few days.

It is clear that the concentration of this outbreak is now in the Suva-Nausori area. Most of the new cases in recent days were discovered through contact tracing investigations for known cases, which is an indicator that our contact tracing efforts are effective. Significant escalations in daily case numbers have been largely driven by the fact that recent cases have been linked to large households or workplace groups, funeral gatherings and the associated grog sessions in big groups. We are getting test results quickly, so we can take proper action soon after identifying someone who may have been in close contact with an infected person.

We urge people to keep that in mind and do what they can to help: Make sure the careFIJI app is active on your smartphone and that Bluetooth is turned on. Remember your movements and the people with whom you have come into contact. Maintain proper mask wearing when outside your home, limit social activities to within the household, and don’t share bilos and cigarettes. And report for screening immediately if you have any of the common COVID-19 symptoms–even very mild symptoms.

Vaccination Campaign Update

Since the restart of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign within the Suva and Nausori Containment Zones on Monday 24th May, 16,148 doses of the vaccine have been administered. A total of 13,398 first doses were administered to the people living between Suva-Nausori, while 2,750 second doses were given to the frontliners across Fiji. As of 26 May 2021, 111,801 people in Fiji have received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, this is 17 percent of the Ministry of Health and Medical Services’ target population of 650,000 individuals. A daily list of vaccination sites will be released each evening.

The Ministry of Health acknowledges the support of the different government ministries, agencies including RFMF, Fiji Police, civil society groups and ordinary Fijians who have come forward in in the successful roll-out of the vaccination program.