A 11 months old boy is part of the 6 new COVID-19 deaths announced by Permanent Secretary for Health, Doctor James Fong while there are 1163 new COVID cases.
The 11-month-old infant was from Delaivalalevu.
He was brought to CWM Hospital in severe respiratory distress and died on the same day on 19th July.
He had fever and fast breathing for 3 days before he was taken to the hospital.
Doctor Fong says severe disease and death due to COVID among infants are rare, however, the doctors overseeing this baby’s care confirm that he did die because of COVID-19.
He says we know that once a very high level of infections is reached in the community, these rare events do occur.
The Permanent Secretary says this is an absolute tragedy when the most vulnerable in our community, our babies, become victims of this awful disease.
He says this is why the Ministry of Health is following the science and advice of WHO very closely with regards to the vaccination of those below the age of 18, and they are making arrangements to import more vaccines once they know that they are proven to offer safe and effective protection for children against the virus.
Doctor Fong says while we await these vaccines for the younger age group they also remind you that every time you vaccinate, you also help to protect those not eligible for vaccination - including our children.
He also says among the deaths announced this week was a second nurse who was a front-liner. She was not vaccinated.
Doctor Fong says in line with government policy, she was on leave at the time she became infected.
He says as previously announced, they have set their personal protective equipment distribution program to ensure that the large stocks they have are always readily available to all health care workers at the frontline, especially those who work in Critical Care Units and Emergency Departments.
Doctor Fong says by ensuring that our Health Care workers are fully vaccinated, well trained in PPE use and are diligent in helping each other to maintain PPE discipline in the workplace, we will be able to maintain health worker numbers in all our health facilities.
To date nobody has died in Fiji from COVID-19 after being fully vaccinated.
Permanent Secretary for Health, Doctor James Fong has clearly stated that the Rapid Diagnostic tests for COVID-19 used by some should not be conducted for persons with no symptoms (unless they are conducted on the person at regular intervals, for example, daily) and are not to be used to clear a person from isolation.
Doctor Fong says these tests are used to diagnose COVID-19 in a specific environment, and have the advantage of being able to produce a result very quickly (usually within 30 minutes or less), and can be done outside of traditional laboratory setups.
However he says they work best when the limitations of the test are clearly understood by the user.
Doctor Fong says the Ministry of Health has been telling everyone that lives in Suva-Nausori that if you have symptoms of COVID-19 you should assume you have COVID-19 and self isolate for 14 days, keep watch for severe COVID-19 symptoms and immediately seek emergency medical care if they are present.
However, if you are over the age of 50 or have an illness that increases your risk of developing severe COVID-19, you must go to the screening clinics to get tested and put on the appropriate care pathway where you will be monitored by the health teams.
If you test positive on a Rapid diagnostic Test, you can assume that you have COVID-19 and self isolate for 14 days.
However, if you have symptoms and test negative on a rapid diagnostic test you should still assume you have COVID-19 and self isolate for 14 days.
He says they know that these rapid tests have a higher risk of producing a false negative result than the gold standard molecular testing, which is used by the Ministry to confirm all negative rapid tests conducted at the screening clinics.
80 percent of all eligible adults in Fiji have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
473,716 have received the first dose.
Permanent Secretary for Health, Doctor James Fong says this is the halfway mark in our campaign to fully vaccinate 587,651 Fijians by the end of October.
22.5 percent or 131,979 people are now fully vaccinated in Fiji.
He says we have worked hard to get to this point just like in rugby, complacency in the second half spells a whole lot worse than taking silver.
Doctor Fong streses we have to finish strong just like our sevens heroes and win our victory over this virus by vaccinating as many adults in Fiji as we possibly can.
He says lives depend on our success.
Doctor Fong says of you’ve received one dose, come forward for dose number two.
And if you are yet to be vaccinated, please do so.
Doctor Fong also says they at the Ministry are proud of our Sevens heroes for their incredible repeat Gold medal victory in Tokyo.
He says for the length of the final game, the phones were quiet on the 165 emergency line for the first time in weeks.
Doctor Fong says he is sure most of us have seen the videos of their workers stealing a moment of respite to cheer on the boys and celebrate their win.
He knows none of us will ever forget what their win meant for the nation at this time because their success says something very powerful about the value of sacrifice.
The Permanent Secretary says what we didn’t see in the 14 minutes of action that secured us gold was the many months of sacrifices that the team members, coaches, and staff all made to keep themselves healthy and ready to compete at their full strength.
He says he is talking about their diligence to prevent themselves from contracting the virus.
He says many athletes in Tokyo have tested positive and sadly, they have been unable to compete but none of our Sevens players tested positive.
Doctor Fong says they were all fully vaccinated, and they didn’t unnecessarily socialise in ways that put themselves at risk.
He says 5oday, our sevens heroes arrived back from Japan with their gold medals in tow.
Doctor Fong says we are all excited, but he has been watching some of the more irresponsible celebratory gatherings with growing concern.
He says the Fiji Police spent the hours after the match breaking up more than a few victory parties that could easily result in the rampant spread of the virus.
Doctor Fong says this cannot continue.
He says though they are fully vaccinated, the MOH is still entering our 7s team members, coaches and staff into quarantine for a set period.
Doctor Fong says he wishes theg could afford them the proper welcome home celebration they deserve when they exit but they cannot afford to do so at this time.
He says we have to scale things down for the sake of upholding our very important health protection measures.
If you are over the age of 50 and have diseases like diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, asthma or are pregnant or obese and develop symptoms of COVID-19, then you should come to a screening clinic to get tested to receive appropriate care path.
The Head of Health Protection, Dr. Aalisha Sahukhan says because they have targeted their testing in Suva and Nausori to the high risk group, their response teams are now better able to monitor people who are more likely to develop severe disease.
6 people have died from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours ending at 8am today.
The first death is an 11 month old infant from Delaivalelevu who arrived at the CWM Hospital in severe respiratory distress.
The second death is a 80 year old woman from from Lami who died at home and was not vaccinated.
The third death is 61 year old man from Suva who died at home and was not vaccinated.
The fourth death is a 53 year old man from Lami who died at home and was not vaccinated.
The fifth death is a 78 year old woman from Sawani Village who died at home and was not vaccinated.
The sixth death is 60 year old man from Wainibuku who died at the CWM Hospital. He was not vaccinated.
There have been four more deaths of COVID-19 positive patients but their deaths have been classified as non COVID-19 deaths.
There have been now 233 deaths due to COVID-19 in Fiji.
There have been 244 new recoveries which means there are now 21,109 active cases in Fiji.
All these cases are in Viti Levu as patients in the Northern and the Eastern Divisions have fully recovered.
The 7 day day average of COVID-19 deaths has increased to 9 deaths per day.
There are currently 313 COVID-19 patients admitted in various hospitals. 53 are considered to be in severe condition and 11 patients are in critical condition.
Dr. Sahukhan says community transmission in Suva and Nausori is very high while there is now evidence of community transmission in the Western Division.
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