Fiji’s COVID-19 deaths exceeded 400 overnight after 11 new fatalities were recorded, among them a woman in her 70s who had received both doses of the vaccine.
Of the country’s 405 COVID-19 deaths, 403 occurred during the April outbreak. These exclude 223 other deaths during the outbreak but happening in a little over two months since 5 June, involving COVID-19 positive patients whose deaths have been attributed to other causes.
To date, the Ministry of Health remains adamant that none of these victims was fully vaccinated including a 72-year-old woman of Tavua who died two days ago despite receiving the second dose of the vaccine.
“She got sick with COVID-19 less than 2 weeks after receiving the second dose, she was not fully vaccinated when she got infected with the virus,” the ministry said. “A person must have two doses of the vaccine and wait at least two weeks after the second dose to be considered fully vaccinated and to get the full protective effect of the vaccine.”
According to the ministry, the woman had received her first dose of the vaccine in early June, She received her second on 5 August, presented to the Tavua Hospital eight days later, on Sunday 15 August, with symptoms of COVID-19. She died in the early hours of Monday 16 August, all within 11 days.
She became the fourth person to die under the same circumstance in eight days.
The woman was among six of the 11 deaths recorded in the western division over three days.
Details of the Other 10 deaths (13-16 August – Five central and five west)
- 13 August
- Man, 85, Naitasiri
- Unvaccinated
- Died at home
- Woman, 83, Naitasiri
- UNvaccinated
- Died at home
- Man, 86, Tavua
- Unvaccinated
- Presented to Tavua Hospital in severe respiratory distress on 13 August. Died on the same day.
- Man, 85, Naitasiri
- 14 August
- Man, 72, Tavua
- Unvaccinated
- Presented to the Tavua Hospital in severe respiratory distress. He died on the same day.
- Man, 72, Tavua
- 15 August
- Man, 82, Sigatoka
- Unvaccinated
- Declared dead on arrival at Sigatoka Hospital
- Man, 79, Rakiraki
- Unvaccinated
- Died at home
- Man, 88, Lautoka
- Partially vaccinated, having received the first dose in late-July
- Died at home
- Man, 68, Suva
- Unvaccinated
- Presented to CWM Hospital in severe respiratory distress on 14 August
- Died at CWMH day after admission
- Woman, 57, Tailevu
- Unvaccinated
- Died at home
- Woman, 68, Tailevu
- Partially vaccinated, having received the first dose in early-July
- Died at home
- Man, 82, Sigatoka
With the newly reported deaths, there have now been 405 deaths due to COVID-19 in Fiji. The national 7 day rolling average of COVID-19 deaths per day is 9. The 7 day rolling average of COVID-19 deaths in the Central Division is 4 and in the Western Division is 5.
The deaths of 15 other COVID-19 positive patients were also announced last evening, bringing to 223 the number of people who were diagnosed with COVID-19 but whose deaths were attributed to “serious medical conditions they had before.”
New Cases, Active Cases and Recoveries
There were 590 new cases of COVID-19 reported for the 24 hour period that ended at 8am Tuesday 17 August. Of these, 420 are from the western division and 170 cases are from the central division.
There have been 1,304 new recoveries reported since the last update, which means that there are now 21,754 active cases, of which almost 66.97% are in the central division and 33% in the West. Active case in the northern division remains at one.
There have been 41,107 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021, and a total of 41,177 cases in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020. There have been18,795 recoveries since 2020.
