The FEMAT field hospital in Suva will soon be converted to a full-time COVID-care facility and home swab visits in the Suva-Nausori corridor reserved only for special cases as new coronavirus infections increased to a new high at 791 and six more deaths, of which three have been linked to COVID-19.
Permanent Secretary for Health Dr James Fong anticipates case numbers to continue to increase likewise hospitalisation cases and deaths.
The Ministry of Health’s response teams in Suva-Nausori will be redirected to the identification and close monitoring of people with severe cases of COVID-19.
As a result of increasing COVID-19 cases in the Suva-Nausori containment zone, the ministry advises that until further notice, home-based screening and swabbing services in Suva-Nausori will no longer be provided, except in exceptional circumstances. Exceptional circumstances include if an individual has a disability or is otherwise physically unable to leave their home and attend a clinic, and these people should call 158.”
People in Suva-Nausori should visit their nearest screening clinic for testing if they experience COVID-19 symptoms or have been in close contact with an infected person. In other parts of Fiji, persons with COVID-19 symptoms, or who are contacts of cases, should call 158 to be advised by the respective medical teams in those areas.
The first COVID-19 death is a 61-year-old man from Qauia Village, Lami. He was brought to the CWMH Emergency Department in severe respiratory distress. He had been experiencing severe COVID-19 symptoms, including shortness of breath, for two weeks. He died one day later. He was not vaccinated.
The second COVID-19 death is a 75-year-old man from Raiwaqa. He was declared dead on arrival by the attending medical officer at the CWMH Hospital Emergency Department. This means that he died at home or on his way to the hospital. His family reported that he had been unwell, with symptoms including fever and generalized weakness, for at least 5 days at home. He was not vaccinated.
The third COVID-19 death is a 67-year-old man from Toorak. A Ministry response team attended to him at home and transferred him to the CWM Hospital after he reported having symptoms of COVID-19 at home for approximately a week. His condition worsened in hospital and he died 11 days after admission. He received his 1st dose of the vaccine in mid-June. He had not received the second dose of the vaccine and was not fully vaccinated.
There have been three 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.
There have now been 42 deaths due to COVID-19 in Fiji, with 40 of these deaths during the outbreak that started in April this year. An additional 19 COVID-19 positive patients also died during the outbreak but from pre-existing conditions.
Currently, there are 6,524 active cases. There have been 7,870 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021, and 7,940 since the first case was reported in March 2020.
The national 7-day average daily test positivity is 12.5% and continues on an upward trend.
As of 6 July, 329,837 adults in Fiji have received their first dose of the vaccine and 56,974 have received their second dose.
The 7-day average of new cases per day has increased to 503 cases per day or 569 cases per million population per day.
