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Media Release
COVID-19 Daily Update
Friday 08th October 2021
Transmission Update
We have 40 new cases of COVID-19 to report for the 24 hour period that ended at 8 am today.
There have been 252 new recoveries to report since the last update, which means that there are now 2,676 active cases. There have been 51,356 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021. We have recorded a total of 51,426 cases in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020, with 47,567 recoveries.
We are currently reviewing and reconciling our active case database with deaths and recoveries and as a result, we expect the death and recovery numbers to intermittently change as verifications are made.
Deaths
We have four COVID-19 deaths to report for the period 28th June 2021 to 12th July 2021. The three COVID-19 deaths have been reported from the Central Division. Kindly note that one death is being reported from June and two deaths from July today due to a delay in the issuance of the official death certificates.
The first COVID-19 death to report is a 55-year-old man from Suva who died at home on 28/06/2021. He was not vaccinated.
The second COVID-19 death to report is a 68-year old woman from Suva. She had presented to FEMAT Hospital in severe respiratory distress and died a few hours later on 10/07/21. She was not vaccinated.
The third COVID-19 death to report is a 57-year old man from Suva. He had presented to FEMAT Hospital in severe respiratory distress and was admitted. Sadly he died 2 days later on 09/07/21.
The fourth COVID-19 death to report is a 52-year old man who presented to FEMAT Hospital in severe respiratory distress. Sadly he died a few hours later on 12/07/21.
There have been three more deaths of COVID-19 positive patients. However, these deaths have been classified as non-COVID deaths by the doctors. The doctors have determined that these deaths were caused by a serious pre-existing medical condition and not COVID-19.
There have now been 653 deaths due to COVID-19 in Fiji, with 651 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 days rolling average of deaths, based on the date of death, to help ensure the data collected is complete before the average is reported. Therefore, as of October 4th, the national 7 days rolling average of COVID-19 deaths per day is 1.3. The 7 days rolling average for COVID-19 deaths per day in the Central Division is 0.9 and 0.4 in the Western Division.
We have also recorded 530 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 57 COVID-19 patients admitted to the hospital. 30 patients are admitted at the Lautoka Hospital and 27 are admitted at CWM hospital, St Giles, and Makoi. 3 patients are considered to be in severe condition, and 3 are in critical condition.
Screening Update
A total of 9,555 individuals were screened and 431 swabbed at our stationary screening clinics in the last 24 hours, bringing our cumulative total to 746,476 individuals screened and 104,552 swabbed to date. Our mobile screening teams screened a total of 377 individuals and swabbed a total of 304 over the last 24 hours. This brings our cumulative total to 856,000 individuals screened and 77,901 swabbed by our mobile teams.
Testing Update
A total of 377,529 samples have been tested since this outbreak started in April 2021, with 420,390 tested since testing began in March 2020. 985 tests have been reported for October 7th, 2021. The 7-day daily test average is 1007 tests per day or 1.1 tests per 1,000 population. Weekly testing is at 7.5 tests per 1000 population, which remains above the WHO recommended level of 4 tests per 1000 population per week. The national 7-day average daily test positivity is 4.4%, which is on a downward trend, and below the WHO recommendation of 5%. We will continue to monitor the trend to better interpret the status of community transmission with other indicators.
Vaccination Update
A total of 594,690 adults in Fiji have received their first dose of the vaccine and 489,389 have received their second doses. Based on our updated total population of 618,173 people aged 18 years and over (adults), the vaccination coverage rates are 96.2% for adults who have received at least one dose, and 79.2% are now fully vaccinated nationwide. Please do note that since dose one is beyond 95%, a verification exercise for dose one is ongoing which may result in minor changes.
As for children, 23,175 children in Fiji have received their first dose of the vaccine as of 07/10/2021. We will be tracking our vaccine coverage rates once we have firmed up our 15 to 17-year-olds age group denominator.
For persons who are currently ill or have valid reasons for delaying their vaccination, we request you to apply for possible temporary exemptions through covidexemptionreq@gmail.com.
Epidemic Outlook
The 7-day average of new cases per day is 42 cases per day or 48 cases per million population per day. As previously announced by the Permanent Secretary, the daily case numbers 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, our testing remains above the WHO recommended rate of 4 tests per 1,000 population per week (or approx. 3,500 tests per week). We will be transitioning to community surveillance testing as severe disease numbers and positivity rates approach the containment phase levels.
No new cases were reported on Malolo Island in the last 24 hours. Of the total of 89 cases, 78 have recovered, and 11 remain active. Daily monitoring continues for the active cases and their contacts. Vaccination of the villagers and distribution of food rations continue for the affected families. Movement restrictions remain in place.
No new cases were recorded on Naviti Island in the last 24 hours. Of the 181 cases, 179 have recovered and 2 remain active. Daily monitoring of cases and their contacts by the health team continues. The villages on the island remain under strict movement restrictions.
No new cases were recorded on Waya Island in the last 24 hours. Of the 51 cases on the island, there are 31 recoveries now with 20 cases remaining active and under daily monitoring by the health team. Vaccination of adults continues and the island remains on movement restriction.
Two new cases were recorded in the Nacula Medical Area in the last 24 hours. Of the 170 cases in the medical area, 57 have recovered, and 113 remain active. The active cases are isolated in their respective villages and are monitored daily by the health teams from the respective medical areas. Movement restrictions remain in force for the islands.
One new case was recorded on Beqa Island in the last 24 hours. Of the 253 cases on the island, 243 cases have now been recovered and 9 cases remain active, of which 5 are on Beqa Island and 9 on Yanuca Island. Vaccination continues in Naceva, Naseuseu, Rukua, Raviravi and Yanuca. Movement restriction remains in force for Yanuca Island with discontinuation of travel from Yanuca Island to Viti Levu on day 12 of 14 days.
No new case was recorded on Kadavu Island in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to 587 cases. Of these, 557 cases have recovered and the remaining 30 active cases are under daily monitoring by the health team. Risk assessment revealed that 6 active cases are in the high-risk category and 24 in the low category. Eight patients are currently admitted at Vunisea hospital, of which 2 are COVID positive and currently in stable condition, and 6 are negative for COVID-19. Vaccination continues by the Vunisea health teams and the Kavala health teams. Movement restrictions remain in force supervised by the Police team and the Vanua.
Public Updates and Advice:
COVID 19 will be endemic in Fiji
Going forward, the Ministry of Health and Medical Services public health team will be monitoring for COVID-19 transmission and disease and intervening when disease indicators cross beyond acceptable levels. It is expected that in the short to medium term, unknown chains of transmission will persist in parts of Fiji and may not be picked up by our routine community surveillance program. They will only be revealed when an outbreak becomes large enough to be visible to our screening. Therefore, having no cases reported does not necessarily mean that the virus has been eliminated, it implies that the spread of the virus has been successfully contained. Further to community surveillance, remodeling health service provision is also a key strategy in our response.
The public is further reminded that while we have introduced several mandatory and punitive measures to promote adherence to COVID safe measures, public engagement and compliance remains the main determining factor to preventing further transmission and preventing the need for severe restrictions and lockdown.
As such whilst we are doing well with steady reductions in disease cases, admissions, severe disease, and death, this is a time for cautious reassurance and optimism.