Fiji announced 121 new coronavirus cases as of 8am yesterday, effectively surpassing the 50,000 mark since its first case in March 2020.
The 103 cases recorded in the West and 18 in the central division take to 50,010 the number of cases recorded in the country during the April outbreak and a total of 50,080 since the country’s first case in 2020.
Of the total cases, a little over 72 per cent have recovered, almost two per cent have died, including deaths of COVID positive patients attributed to pre-existing conditions, and almost 26 per cent remains active across the country.
COVID-19 deaths increased to 575 after nine more delayed deaths were announced overnight. These deaths as with 19 others announced four days ago occurred in the central division, and involved four men and five women aged between 49 and 83 years, who were either partially vaccinated (3) or unvaccinated (6). The nine deaths were recorded between 19 July and 9 August. Six of them either died at home or on their way to hospital.
Eleven other COVID-19 positive patients also died during the reporting period, but their deaths were attributed to other causes. This brings to 987 the total number of COVID positive patients who have died in Fiji since March 2020, of which 985 happened during the outbreak.
Hospitalisations
There are currently 111 COVID-19 patients admitted across the Lautoka Hospital (31), CWM Hospital, St Giles, and Makoi. Of the 111, three patients are considered to be in severe condition, and three are in critical condition.
Screening UpdateA total of 813 individuals were screened and 148 swabbed at our stationary screening clinics in the last 24 hours, bringing our cumulative total to 624,565 individuals screened and 97,268 swabbed to date. Our mobile screening teams screened a total of 175 individuals and swabbed 114. This brings our cumulative total to 838,278 individuals screened and 75,514 swabbed by our mobile teams.
Testing Update
A total of 357,306 samples have been tested since this outbreak started in April 2021, with 400,167 tested since testing began in March 2020. 857 tests have been reported for September 19th. Lab testing data from one lab is pending. Therefore, lab testing data is expected to increase. The 7-day daily test average is 1,296 tests per day or 1.5 tests per 1,000 population. Weekly testing is at 8 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 10.8%, which is on a downward trend, but it still is indicating a high level of community transmission.
Vaccination Update
As of the 19 September 2021: 587,948 adults in Fiji have received their first dose of the vaccine and 387,320 have received their second doses. This means that 98% of the target population have received at least one dose and 66% are now fully vaccinated nationwide.
For persons who are currently ill or have valid reasons for delaying their vaccination, we request you to apply for possible temporary exemptions through covidexemptionreq@gmail.com.
Epidemic Outlook
The 7-day average of new cases per day is 138 cases per day or 156 cases per million population per day.
