Permanent Secretary for Health, Doctor James Fong has announced 11 new COVID-19 deaths from 22nd to 27th July and 715 COVID cases for the 24 hour period that ended at 8am yesterday.
97 cases are from the Western Division and 618 cases are from the Central Division.
One of the COVID-19 deaths is a 46-year-old healthcare worker from the CWM Hospital. She presented to the CWM Emergency Department in severe respiratory distress. She reported having a fever and cough for five days. Her condition worsened in hospital and she died 2 days after admission on 26th July. She was not vaccinated.
Doctor Fong says the second COVID-19 death is a 65-year-old man from Makoi who died at home on 26th July. He received the 1st dose of the vaccine in mid-July.
The third death is a 74-year-old woman from Lami who died at home on 26th July. She was not vaccinated.
The fourth COVID-19 death is a 71-year-old woman from Davuilevu Housing who died at home on 26th July. She was not vaccinated.
The fifth death is a 66-year-old woman from Caubati who died at home on 26th July. She was not vaccinated.
The sixth death is a 79-year-old woman from Lami who died at home on 22nd July. She was not vaccinated.
The seventh COVID-19 death is a 75-year-old man from Samabula. He presented to the CWM Hospital emergency department in severe respiratory distress. His condition worsened in the hospital and he died on the same day on 25th July. He was not vaccinated.
The eighth COVID-19 death is a 62-year-old woman from Suva. She presented to the CWM Hospital emergency department in severe respiratory distress. Her condition worsened in the hospital and she died 2 days after admission on 26th July. She was not vaccinated.
The ninth death is a 67-year-old man from Korovisilou. He presented to the CWM Hospital emergency department in severe respiratory distress. His condition worsened in the hospital and he died 4 days after admission on 26th July. He was not vaccinated.
The tenth death is a 63-year-old woman from Nausori. She presented to a medical facility in severe respiratory distress. A medical team retrieved her from the health facility and brought her to the FEMAT field hospital. Her condition worsened at the FEMAT field hospital and she died 6 days after admission today. She was not vaccinated.
The eleventh COVID-19 death is a 69-year-old man from Nadera. He presented to the FEMAT field hospital in severe respiratory distress. A medical team retrieved him from the FEMAT field hospital and brought him to the CWM hospital. His condition worsened in the hospital and he died two days after admission on 26th July. He received the 1st dose of the vaccine in mid-June. He did not receive the second dose of the vaccine.
There has been 1 more death of COVID-19 positive patient.
However, her death has been classified as non-COVID death by her doctors.
Doctors have determined that her death was caused by a serious pre-existing medical condition and not COVID-19.
Doctor Fong says there have now been 206 deaths due to COVID-19 in Fiji, with 204 of these deaths during the outbreak that started in April this year.
The 7 day rolling average of COVID-19 deaths per day is 7.
Fiji has also recorded 102 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.
There have been 128 new recoveries reported since the last update, which means that there are now 18,512 active cases.
16,518 active cases are in the Central Division and 1,994 in the West.
Doctor Fong says all cases that were recorded in the Northern and Eastern Divisions (cases that were imported from Viti Levu) have recovered and there are no active cases currently in those divisions.
There have been 25,069 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021.
Fiji has recorded a total of 25,139 cases since the first case was reported in March 2020, with 6,319 recoveries.
A full breakdown of areas of interest has been published online on the Ministry’s COVID-19 dashboard.
449,934 adults in Fiji have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 103,742 have received their second doses.
Permanent Secretary for Health, Doctor James Fong says this means that 76.7% of the target population have received at least one dose and 17.7% are now fully vaccinated nationwide.
Meanwhile Doctor Fong says the 7-day average of new cases per day is 827 cases per day or 934 cases per million population per day.
He says the daily case numbers remain high, and daily test positivity remains high, indicating ongoing widespread community transmission in the Suva-Nausori containment zone.
Doctor Fong says the cases are also increasing in the Western Division.
The Northern and Eastern Divisions currently have no active cases.
The national 7-day daily test average is 3401 tests per day or 3.8 tests per 1,000 population.
The national 7-day average daily test positivity is 26.3%.
For people with COVID-19 symptoms in Suva-Nausori, Doctor Fong says community transmission within the Suva-Nausori containment zone is at a very high level.
This means that anyone who develops symptoms of COVID-19 in Suva-Nausori should assume that they have COVID-19.
He says most people infected with COVID-19 will have mild symptoms like cough, runny nose, sore throat, fever, loss of taste or smell, body ache, or headache, and will fully recover at home with no medical intervention necessary.
People who have any of these symptoms and are not within a group that is at higher risk for developing severe COVID-19 will no longer be tested for COVID-19 and should stay at home, strictly self-isolate for 14 days, and continue to monitor your symptoms for severe COVID-19.
If you develop any signs of severe COVID-19, like difficulty breathing or chest pain, please go immediately to CWM Hospital, FEMAT Hospital, Vodafone Arena, and individuals in Nausori with severe symptoms should go to Nausori Health Centre or Wainibokasi Hospital.
Call 165 if you are unable to travel to a medical facility.
However, if you or someone you are caring for has mild symptoms but is at high risk of severe COVID, in particular individuals over 50 years, have a chronic illness such as diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, asthma, are obese, or are pregnant – the MOH needs you to visit one of the screening clinics and get tested.
If you test positive, then they will ensure you are provided immediate care by the health teams.
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