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Media Release

COVID-19 Daily Update

Wednesday, 25th August 2021

Transmission Update

We have 255 new cases of COVID-19 to report for the 24 hour period that ended at 8am yesterday. 138 cases are from the Western Division and 117 cases are from the Central Division. A full breakdown of areas of interest will be published online tonight on the Ministry’s COVID-19 dashboard. You will also be able to view the approximate locations of new cases, active cases, and recovered cases on the dashboard at the following link: http://bit.ly/3vE2ZBb.

15 more individuals have tested positive for COVID-19 in Vunabaka, Malolo Island. Early investigations have determined that more than 20 people had recently engaged in unauthorized travel from Viti Levu to Malolo Island. There are now 17 active cases on Malolo Island, including the 2 announced yesterday, with more expected. A medical team from Lautoka have travelled to Malolo Island to assist the  onsite medical team with the necessary response, including isolation of cases, contact tracing, and quarantine of contacts.

There have been 53 new recoveries reported since the last update, which means that there are now 19,107 active cases. 9,717 active cases are in the Central Division, 9,254 active cases in the Western Division, 1 active case in the Northern Division (Nabouwalu) and 135 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 increase in the coming weeks.

There have been 44,675 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021. We have recorded a total of 44,745 cases in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020, with 24,908 recoveries.

Deaths

We have 6 new COVID-19 deaths to report for the period of 22nd – 24th August. Three deaths were reported from the Central Division and three deaths were reported from the Western Division.

The first COVID-19 death to report is a 47 year old man from Naitasiri who died at home on the 23/08/2021. He was not vaccinated.

The second COVID-19 death to report is a 74 year old man from Ba. He presented to the Ba Mission Hospital in severe respiratory distress. He died three days after admission on the 22/08/2021.He received the first dose of the vaccine in late-July. He did not receive the second dose of the vaccine. This means that he was not fully vaccinated.

The third COVID-19 death to report is an 80 year old man from Sigatoka who died at home on the 22/08/2021. He was not vaccinated.

The fourth COVID-19 death to report is an 80 year old man from Suva. He presented to the CWM Hospital in severe respiratory distress. He died 7 days after admission on the (24/08/2021). He was not vaccinated.

The fifth COVID-19 death to report is an 85 year old man from Tailevu who died at home on the 24/08/2021. He was not vaccinated.

The sixth COVID-19 death to report is a 65 year old woman from Ba who died at home on the 23/08/2021. She was not vaccinated.

There have been 5 more deaths of COVID-19 positive patients. However, these deaths have been classified as non-COVID deaths by their doctors. Doctors have determined that their deaths were caused by serious pre-existing medical conditions and not COVID-19.

With today’s newly reported deaths, there have now been 459 deaths due to COVID-19 in Fiji, with 457 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 date of death, in order to help ensure the data collected is complete before the average is reported. Therefore, as of August 20th, the national 7 day rolling average of COVID-19 deaths per day is 8. The 7 day rolling average for COVID-19 deaths per day in the Central Division is 3 and in the Western Division is 5.

We also have recorded 271 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 242 COVID-19 patients admitted to hospital. 103 patients are admitted at the Lautoka Hospital, 28 patients are admitted at the FEMAT field hospital, and 111 admitted at CWM hospital, St Giles, and Makoi. 44 patients are considered to be in severe condition, and 8 are in critical condition.

Screening Update

A total of 5,275 individuals were screened and 670 swabbed at our stationary screening clinics in the last 24 hours, bringing our cumulative total to 494,038 individuals screened and 86,446 swabbed to date. As of the 24th August our mobile screening teams screened a total of 2336 individuals and swabbed 98. This brings our cumulative total to 804,198 individuals screened and 71,039 swabbed by our mobile teams.

Testing update

A total of 323,697 samples have been tested since this outbreak started in April 2021, with 366,558 tested since testing began in March 2020. 1,469 tests have been reported for August 24th. The 7-day daily test average is 1708 tests per day or 1.9 tests per 1,000 population. The national 7-day average daily test positivity is 24.6%.

Vaccination Update 

As of the 24th August, 547,252 adults in Fiji have received their first dose of the vaccine and 245,749 have received their second doses. This means that 93.3% of the target population have received at least one dose and 41.9% are now fully vaccinated nationwide. We are currently doing a mop up exercise of our first dose campaign, which will allow us to specifically target communities with low coverage, and subsequently also correct and update the total eligible population for our current vaccination program.

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 416 cases per day or 471 cases per million population per day. We have noted a drop in cases reported per day recently. However, our daily testing numbers have also been dropping around the same time, due to the change in testing policy in Suva-Nausori. Since July 21st, only persons that have a higher risk of developing severe COVID-19 are being targeted for testing in Suva-Nausori. This was done so that resources could be targeted to early detection, monitoring and care of persons with COVID-19 who are at higher risk of severe disease, to prevent more people succumbing to severe disease and death. We will be transitioning to community surveillance testing as severe disease numbers and positivity rates approach the containment phase levels.

We are likely seeing the effect of this testing policy change now in Suva-Nausori with the drop in daily reported cases. This does not mean that the outbreak is on a downward trend in the Suva-Nausori community. As previously announced by the Permanent Secretary, daily case numbers in Suva-Nausori are currently not being used as an indicator to monitor progress of the outbreak in Suva-Nausori. The Ministry is closely monitoring other indicators such as test positivity, hospitalisations and deaths to track the progress of the outbreak in Suva-Nausori.

We are seeing increasing cases reported in the Western Division with evidence of widespread community transmission in that division.  Deaths per day at a 7 day average in the Western Division now surpass the Central Division.

The Northern Division remains with one active case, with all contacts in quarantine so far testing negative, and swabbing results from within the containment area, and nearby communities also returning negative. The situation in Kadavu in the Eastern Division continues to remain a concern with more cases expected. There are now also cases in Malolo Island, with more cases expected.

Advice to the public

People with severe COVID-19 are still dying at home, or are coming to a medical facility in the late stages of severe illness.

Severe COVID-19 is a medical emergency, and a delay in receiving appropriate medical treatment reduces your chance of recovering from the disease. You are at higher risk of developing severe COVID-19 if you are over the age of 50 or have a non-communicable disease or chronic disease like diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, kidney disease, or if you are obese or pregnant.

If you are at high risk of severe disease and have any symptoms of COVID-19 such as a cough, runny nose, fever, sore throat, body ache, headache, loss of taste/smell – please come to your nearest screening clinic to be checked and tested by our medical teams.

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

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

In Suva-Nausori we have identified health facilities specifically designated to receive people with symptoms of severe COVID-19. If you or a loved one live in Suva-Nausori and have any of these severe symptoms please go immediately to the designated health facilities listed below.

– Colonial War Memorial Hospital (CWMH)

– FEMAT Hospital, Vodafone Arena

Individuals in Nausori with severe symptoms should go to:

– Nausori Health Centre

– Wainibokasi Hospital

In the Western Division, please go to your nearest healthcare facility if you have any symptoms of COVID-19.

Call 165 if you are unable to travel to a medical facility. 

The public in the North are being reminded that with one active case identified in Nabouwalu, it is important that people throughout Vanua Levu listen to advice and continue to practice COVID-19 safety measures.

The public is requested to practice COVID-19 safety measures of wearing a mask when leaving your home, wash your hands regularly with soap and water or use a hand sanitiser, practice safe physical distancing of 2m, ensure that the careFIJI app is downloaded on your phone and enabled and remember to get vaccinated.

Kadavu Response Update

The situation in Kadavu Island remains a major concern. The clinical scoping team have put together a clinical response plan that will help to efficiently escalate our response to the expected wave of severe disease and deaths in Kadavu however we do anticipate this to be a challenging exercise. The team is expected to depart for Kadavu tomorrow to support the current onsite medical team. FEMAT response to Kadavu will involve both public health and clinical teams. The clinical team will include doctors and nurses from the clinical specialized fields of medicine. And a laboratory team from the Fiji CDC. Upon arrival in Kadavu the team will boost up the public health response on,  case identification through contact tracing and screening, risk assessment and stratification, COVID awareness, Vaccination coverage and clinical case management based on the clinical care flow pathway. The aim will be to identify the extent of transmission, instituting containment strategies, early detection and retrieval of sick cases and minimizing deaths. They will also work very closely with the teams from other ministries under Provincial Administrator Kadavu on community engagement. The main goal is also to minimize severe and critical cases given the expected challenges in medical evacuation. While they commit towards community response and engagement the logistic teams will be setting up the COVID wards and the intermediate care facilities in readiness for patients with severe COVID-19 disease.

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