Forty-three of 262 new coronavirus infections announced today are from new areas of interest or localities where there have not been any cases recorded or known to be contacts of existing cases including Jittu Estate, MV Liohona Shipping, Waikete Village and Natogadravu.
The 43 are among 254 cases reported in the Lami-Siva-Nausori containment zone, five cases are known contacts of cases from the Nawakalevu containment zone in Nadi, and three are contacts from the existing Korovou cluster.
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, and a cumulative total of 3591 cases in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020. There have been 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. Two deaths are still under investigation to determine if they were caused by COVID-19. Eight COVID-19 positive patients also died during the current outbreak but from pre-existing non-COVID-19 related illnesses.
TestingUpdate
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.
ScreeningUpdate
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.
EpidemicOutlook
The 7 day average of new cases per day has increased to 234 cases per day or 264 cases per million population per day. All the evidence is that there is widespread community transmission in the Lami-Suva-Nausori containment zone.
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 sanitiser. Avoid crowds, and crowded confined places.
