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Statement by the Permanent Secretary for Health & Medical Services

COVID-19 Daily Update

Monday 7th June, 2021

Transmission Update

We have recorded another 64 cases since yesterday’s update. The new cases stem from the following existing clusters:

CWM Hospital-10
Nawaka-11
Navy- 23
Navosai -9
Waila – 1
COVID-19 Incident Management Team (IMT) – 10

For the 83 cases reported yesterday, we can now confirm that 77 were, in fact, connected to existing clusters:

IMT – 23
CWMH – 14
Waila – 6
Caubati – 3
Navosai – 11
RFMF – 4
Shop & Save supermarket – 6
Samabula – 9
Nawaka – 1

The potential for new clusters relates to the 5 cases in Naitasiri and 1 case in Tavua.

A patient at CWM Hospital, who had tested positive while admitted, died yesterday. However, it has been determined that his death was caused by the serious medical illnesses for which he had been admitted to the hospital, and not COVID-19.

20 patients have recovered, which means there are now 515 active cases in isolation. There have been 681 cases during the current outbreak that started in April 2021.
We have recorded a total of 751 cases in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020. We have had 230 recoveries and 4 deaths due to COVID-19.

Testing Update

A total of 86,055 samples have been tested since this outbreak started in April 2021, with 126,476 tested since testing began in early 2020.

2,402 samples were tested and reported on June 6th. The national 7-day daily test average is 2883 tests per day or 3.3 per 1000 population. The national 7-day average daily test positivity is 1.6%.

Breaking of Protocols

We are concerned about recurring incidents of individuals violating established protocols designed to prevent the spread of the virus. These breaches are potentially dangerous and endanger the health and lives of all Fijians.

One individual travelled from Naitasiri and had a grog session with acquaintances in Tavua Village. With the support of Tui Tavua, we have facilitated a lockdown of Tavua Village for an initial 4 days. We will screen all contacts and then plan a more targeted lockdown area in the village. We know that this is not an isolated case of social gathering behaviour that is prolonging the COVID-19 outbreak in Fiji by allowing the virus to move further into our communities. Our non-containment zones are still at risk of being breached. Fijians living in non-containment must also act as if the virus is already in their communities by avoiding social gathering and observing the COVID safe protocols and guidelines we have issued. That is the way we will get back to normal quickly.

Additional Updates

After thorough decontamination following some cases among staff in the Incident Management Team Warehouse, the warehouse facility has been fully re-opened allowing for a complete supply chain of essential items for our frontline officials.

Our contact tracing investigations have identified several of our vaccination personnel as secondary contacts of an earlier-announced case in Nadi. As a result, the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in Nadi has been temporarily halted until these staff can be swabbed and cleared. We thank those awaiting vaccination in Nadi for their patience.

Epidemic outlook

While an overwhelming majority of new cases are linked to existing clusters, it is clear that the recent escalation in daily case numbers from the Central Division signals the increasing severity of this outbreak. The emergence of clusters outside of the Lami-Nausori containment zone in Naitasiri is also a cause for concern. And the cases within the CWM Hospital, as well as within the COVID-19 Incident Management Team, are serious developments that have had an impact on our ability to respond. We can expect more cases.
Therefore, now more than ever – we are urging every Fijian to consistently take heed of the measures we have announced to protect yourselves and your loved ones from this virus. If you leave your home you should behave as if every single person you encounter is potentially a carrier of COVID-19. Anyone can get COVID-19, but we can all reduce our risk by following these simple rules if we have to leave home: Wear a well-fitted mask, maintain physical distancing of at least 2 metres between yourself and others, download the careFIJI app and activate your Bluetooth, avoid crowds and crowded, confined places. And wash your hands frequently with soap and water or hand sanitiser. Do not attend or organize social gatherings. Don’t meet up with friends. Don’t share a bowl of grog with workmates after work or anyone outside your household. Don’t visit family that live outside your home. It is safest to avoid interacting with anyone who is not a member of your household as much as possible.

We applaud the strong leadership of the Tui Tavua and other community leaders who are helping to rapidly escalate necessary public health containment measures. The support of all communities, outside or within containment zones, through the promotion and enforcement of COVID-safe behaviour is vital for our national effort to stop the spread of this virus.

Public Advisory

Sunday 06th June, 2021

The Naitasiri COVID-19 Command Center headed by Sub-Divisional Medical Officer Naitasiri and assisted by the Provincial Administrator and Roko Tui Naitasiri have put together a plan to help control overcrowding at the Sawani Border in Naitasiri.

Due to the closure of the border in recent weeks, Sawani had been experiencing the flooding of people from the highlands, including:-

i) farmers selling their farm produce;
ii) people needing to withdraw money from Nausori Town;
iii) people needing groceries to be purchased from Nausori Town;
iv) people using services provided by MPaisa (Vodafone), MyCash (Digicel) Social Welfare and the Westpac EFTPOS machine (operated by an Agent);
v) people taking advantage of the mobile retail supermarkets;
vi) buyers from the Red Zones; and
vii) friends and families exchanging goods at the border.

As a result of the availability of limited space at the Sawani Border (in-front of Sawani Police Post) and the need to minimise the presence of villagers in any day during the week, the Team has drawn up a timetable which hopefully, will ensure:

i) crowd control and
ii) effective containment system at the border.

Various districts (tikina cokovata) have been grouped together and allocated separate days to come to Sawani to conduct their business. On the same note, the people of Naitasiri are being encouraged to take advantage of the canteens in their villages and communities or the merchandise shops at Vunidawa including the post offices in Lomaivuna and Vunidawa.

The sole intention is to limit the number of people flooding to Sawani for essential items/agendas only which cannot be provided back at their various communities.

For medical clinics, people are advised to check the Naqali Health Center or Vunidawa Hospital.

Farmers are to note that through agricultural officers, fertilizers, pesticides and weedicides are being sold at the Sawani Border every Wednesdays by South Pacific Fertilizers (SPF).

BORDER CONTROL SCHEDULE

DAY                          TIKINA
Monday                   Lomaivuna / Naitasiri / Waimaro
Tuesday                   Matailobau / Wainimala
Wednesday             Lomaivuna / Naitasiri / Waimaro
Thursday                 Matailobau / Wainimala
Friday                       Lomaivuna/ Naitasiri / Waimaro
Saturday                  Wainimala / Lomaivuna / Waimaro

-ENDS-

Statement by Permanent Secretary for Health & Medical Services

COVID-19 Daily Update

Sunday 06th June 2021

Transmission Update

We have recorded 83 new cases since our daily update yesterday. The majority of these cases are from known clusters or areas already under containment or lockdown protocols, including in Waila, CWM Hospital, IMT-HQ, IMT Warehouse, Caubati, Navy, Samabula, Shop N Save Supermarket, Nawaka Nadi, and Navosai. New clusters have been reported in Naitasiri.

The new cases reported in Naitasiri are from the following localities:

• 2 cases from Matasinasau Village, one of whom was recently discharged from CWM and one case who had moved to Tavua Village by the time the results were known
• 1 case from Laselevu
• 1 case in the Savusavu settlement; and
• 1 case in Vuisiga Village, Vunidawa

The Naitasiri Containment Response team have also had to stand down due to exposure to a positive case.

One case has been confirmed in Tavua in a traveller who recently arrived from Lautoka.

The cluster of greatest concern is at CWM Hospital where our medical teams are going to great lengths to provide critical treatment without exposing themselves and their patients to the virus. In Lautoka, we cordoned off the hospital as a COVID-care facility and deployed a field hospital to handle non-COVID care. We will be replicating the success of that model at CWM Hospital. The CWM Hospital will become a full-time COVID-care facility with tightly controlled movement into the hospital. Access to Laboratory, Maternity and Paediatric Units will be through escalated screening protocols and package decontamination protocols. A field hospital for the treatment of non-COVID patients in the vicinity of the CWM Hospital is being established in conjunction with our partners from Australia.

In total, 11 of the 83 cases confirmed today are of unknown origin and will be classified as cases of community transmission until proven otherwise.

Testing Update

A total of 2,737 samples were tested and reported on 5 June. The national 7-day daily test average is 2819 tests per day or 3.2 per 1000 population. The national 7-day average daily test positivity is 1.4%.

Vaccine Update

50,000 additional doses of AstraZeneca vaccines will be arriving into the country next week from Australia.

We have administered 206,658 first doses and 4,599 second doses nationwide since the beginning of our vaccination effort. This week (31 May through 4 June) we administered 70,693 first doses and 482 second doses.

Additional Updates

The high number of cases confirmed today signals a much larger proportion of cases in the community. We expect more days of high numbers of confirmed cases. We sadly expect more hospitalizations as more severe cases of the disease develop. But thanks to the massive step-up in the pace of our testing, we can continue to fight this virus in a targeted way –– a way that allows Fijians to access essential services and allows the economy to function as normally and safely as possible. Fiji is now testing at the highest rate in Oceania. We have never been more equipped than today to confront an outbreak, and we should take faith in our constantly strengthening capacity against this invisible enemy. But we know the front of this battle extends everywhere and to everyone. It will ultimately be won by all of us through the decisions we all make every day.

We cannot wait for more record-breaking days of case numbers for all Fijians to take our health measures seriously. In the course of contact tracing investigations, it’s been found that a funeral was held recently in Mulomulo Village, Nadi with nearly 100 people in attendance. The entire community has since been locked down. That reckless gathering could potentially result in another super-spreader event. The rule is simple: Only ten people are allowed to attend a funeral. That applies before, during and after the funeral. Remember, no social gatherings are allowed otherwise. If we don’t respect those rules, we will sadly have more of our loved ones to bury due to the loss of life that can result from COVID-19. Through our adherence to our health measures, we can prevent that from coming to pass and protect those most vulnerable in society.