Fiji reported five new COVID-19 deaths overnight, all of whom unvaccinated either dying at home or was declared dead upon arriving at a health facility, consistent with a “troubling” trend prompting pleas to decision-makers in various households to keep an eye on their love ones particularly if they are older or have underlying health conditions.
Of the 28 deaths reported over the last three days, 64.3% have either died at home, died on arrival or died on the same day of their presentation to a health facility. Others made it to the hospital, dying between one and 17 days after admission.
Three of the 28 victims were under 40 years old, the rest were aged between 41 and 91 years.
“It’s upsetting. Worse, it’s unnecessary,” Permanent Secretary for Health Dr James Fong said.
“We have established a hotline to detect cases of severe disease. We have teams ready to deploy and transport patients to hospitals. Please keep an eye on your loved ones –– particularly if they are older or have underlying health conditions. If they have serious flu-like symptoms, please report them so that they can receive the potentially life-saving care that they need. There is no cure for COVID, but there are measures we can take that can still save someone’s life if we have the chance to do so.”
Of the 28 deaths, 22 were unvaccinated, three were partially vaccinated and three others although having received both doses were deemed not fully vaccinated when they died.
Of the 22 unvaccinated, 16 either died at home, died on arrival or died on the same day of their presentation to a health facility. Six died within 17 days of their admission. Of those partially vaccinated, two died at home and one died a day after admission. Three people who had received both doses but had either been infected prior to or shortly after their second inoculation died within four days after their admission.
Meanwhile of the five newly reported deaths, three died at home and two were declared dead on arrival including a 30-year-old man from Ba.
DEATHS (10-12 August)
Three deaths were reported in the central division and two, in the West.
- 91-year-old woman, Navua
- She was not vaccinated
- Died at home on 10 August
- 86 year old woman,Rakiraki
- She was not vaccinated
- Declared dead on arrival at Rakiraki Hospital on 10 August. This means that she died at home or on her way to the hospital.
- 30-year-old man, Ba.
- He was not vaccinated
- Declared dead on arrival at the Ba Mission Hospital on 10 August. This means that he died at home or on his way to the hospital.
- 71-year-old man, Naitasiri
- He was not vaccinated
- Died at home on 11 August. His family reported that he had a cough and fever two days prior. He was not vaccinated.
- 76-year-old man, Naitaisiri
- He was not vaccinated
- Died at home on 12 August.
There have been eight more deaths involving COVID-19 positive patients due to “pre-existing medical conditions and not COVID-19”, totalling 185 to date.
With today’s newly reported deaths, there have now been 345 deaths due to COVID-19 in Fiji, with 343 of these deaths during the outbreak that started in April this year.
The national 7 day rolling average of COVID-19 deaths per day is 9. The 7 day rolling average of COVID-19 deaths per day in the Central Division is six deaths and the Western Division is 3 deaths.
Active/New/Total Cases & Recoveries
398 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded for the 24 hour period that ended at 8 am 12 August. Of the 398 new cases, 254 are from the West and 144 are from the central division.
There have been 703 new recoveries, totalling 14,301 since 2020.
Active cases stand at 23981, of which 75% reside in the central division and the rest in the West.
There have been 38,742 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021, with a total of 38,812 cases in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020.
Hospitalisations
There are currently 291 COVID-19 patients admitted to the hospital – 72 patients are admitted to the Lautoka Hospital, 60 patients are admitted at the FEMAT field hospital, and 159 were admitted at CWM hospital, St Giles, and Makoi. 67 patients are considered to be in severe condition, and 14 are in critical condition.
Screening Update
A total of 5,916 individuals were screened and 671 swabbed at our stationary screening clinics in the last 24 hours, bringing our cumulative total to 444,204 individuals screened and 77,909 swabbed to date. As of 11th August, our mobile screening teams screened a total of 1,514 individuals and swabbed 124. This brings our cumulative total to 787,035 individuals screened and 69,446 swabbed by our mobile teams.
Testing update
A total of 301,011 samples have been tested since this outbreak started in April 2021, with 343,872 tested since testing began in March 2020. 1622 tests have been reported for August 10th. The 7-day daily test average is 1968 tests per day or 2.2 tests per 1,000 population.
The national 7-day average daily test positivity is 34.5%.
Vaccination Update
As of 11 August, 528,706 adults in Fiji have received their first dose of the vaccine and 202,334 have received their second doses. This means that 90.1% of the target population have received at least one dose and 34.5% are now fully vaccinated nationwide.
