Fiji announced 143 new cases including eight on Kadavu where strick lockdown has been imposed on eight villages on the island, and more than 10 infringement notices for breach of restrictions.
Put under strict lockdown, enforced by the police and vanua, are the village of Tawava and the seven villages of Tikina Yale as part of efforts to contain the spread of the virus.
The new cases on Kadavu bring to 463 total number of cases to have been recorded on the island – averaging 20 cases a day since their first case in mid-August.
Meanwhile, follow up and monitoring of contacts, as well as positive patients likewise vaccination rollout, continues, Permanent Secretary Health Dr James Fong said.
“Seven patients are admitted at Vunisea, four of whom due to COVID-19 and are stable, and three non-COVID patients. The outreach teams continue to visit the villages and communities undertaking follows up of primary contacts, monitoring of positive patients and clearance, roll out of COVID-19 vaccination, maternal and child health clinic and vaccination, and consultation with medicine replenishment.
“The specialist clinical team provided Obstetric, Medical and Paediatric clinics at Daviqele health centre. Community education and awareness sessions on COVID safe measures and observance of movement restrictions continue, and 14 infringement notices have been issued for ongoing breaches of these restrictions on the island.”
According to Fiji Police, ten (10) infringement notices were issued for social gatherings and four for failure to wear a mask.
In the western division, 76 new cases were reported, but none from either Malolo or Naviti islands. Active cases on these islands remain stable – 25 and 109 respectively. Movement restrictions are still in place on both islands.
The other cases were recorded in the central division, at 59.
There have been 93 new recoveries to report since the last update, which means that there are now 13,407 active cases, an increase of 45 compared to the previous day, on the back of the increase in cases in the West and the eastern division. Of the total active cases, 2,238 are in the central division, 10,871 in the West, five in the northern division (Macuata) and 293 active cases in the eastern division (all in Kadavu).
There have been 48,645 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021 and a total of 48,715 cases in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020.
Deaths
The new COVID-19 death is a 36-year-old man from Lautoka. He presented to the Lautoka Hospital in severe respiratory distress. He died on 24 August, one day after admission. He received the first dose of the vaccine in early July. He did not receive the second dose of the vaccine.
Four more deaths of COVID-19 positive patients were recorded however, these deaths have been classified as non-COVID deaths by their 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 534 deaths due to COVID-19 in Fiji, with 532 of these deaths during the outbreak that started in April this year. Fiji has also recorded 363 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.
As of 5 September, the national 7-day rolling average of COVID-19 deaths per day is three. The 7-day rolling average for COVID-19 deaths per day in the central division is one and in the western division is two.
Hospitalisations
There are currently 142 COVID-19 patients admitted to the hospital – 60 at the Lautoka Hospital, 7 at the FEMAT field hospital, and 75 at CWM hospital, St Giles, and Makoi. Thirteen patients are considered to be in severe condition and five are in critical condition.
Testing Update
A total of 344,769 samples have been tested since this outbreak started in April 2021, with 387,630 tested since testing began in March 2020. 1430 tests have been reported for 9 September. The 7-day daily test average is 1,172 tests per day or 1.3 tests per 1,000 population. Weekly testing is at 10.3 tests per 1000 population., which remains above the WHO recommended level of 4 per 1000 population per week. The national 7-day average daily test positivity is 16.2%,.
Vaccination Update
As of 9 September, 568,246 adults in Fiji have received their first dose of the vaccine and 329,849 have received their second doses. This means that 96.9% of the target population have received at least one dose and 56.2% are now fully vaccinated nationwide.
Epidemic Outlook
The 7-day average of new cases per day is 172 cases per day or 195 cases per million population per day.
