Permanent Secretary for Health, Doctor James Fong confirms there are 12 new COVID-19 deaths for the period of 13th July to 19th July while there are 1,054 new cases for the 24 hour period that ended at 8am yesterday.
Doctor Fong says the first death is a 70-year-old woman from Tamavua. She presented to the CWM Hospital in severe respiratory distress. Her family reported that she was feeling unwell with COVID-19 symptoms at home for four days. Her condition worsened at the hospital and she died on the same day on 14th July. She was not vaccinated.
The second COVID-19 death is a 53-year-old woman from Nasinu. She presented to the CWM Hospital in severe respiratory distress. Her family reported that she was unwell with a fever and cough for one week. She died on the same day in hospital on 13th July. She was not vaccinated.
Doctor Fong says the third death is a 60-year-old man from Suva who died at home on 18th July. He was not vaccinated.
The fourth COVID-19 death is a 60-year-old man from Suva. He presented to the CWM Hospital in severe respiratory distress. His condition worsened in the hospital and he died 1 day after admission on 19th July. He was not vaccinated.
The fifth COVID-19 death is a 72-year-old woman from Nakasi who died at home on 18th July. She was not vaccinated.
Doctor Fong says the sixth COVID-19 death is a 69-year-old man from Valelevu who died at home on 18th July. He was not vaccinated.
The seventh death is a 74-year-old woman from Narere. She presented to a medical facility in severe respiratory distress. She was retrieved by a medical team to the CWM Hospital. Her condition worsened in the hospital and she died 5 days after admission on 18th July. She was not vaccinated.
The eighth COVID-19 death is a 92-year-old man from Wailoku who died at home on 19th July. He was not vaccinated.
The ninth death is an 87-year-old woman from Tacirua who died at home on 19th July. She was not vaccinated.
Doctor Fong says the tenth COVID-19 death is an 81-year-old man from Waila who died at home on 19th July. He was not vaccinated.
The eleventh COVID-19 death is a 75-year-old man from Nasinu.
He presented to a medical facility in severe respiratory distress.
He was retrieved by a medical team to the CWM Hospital.
His condition worsened in the hospital and he died 1 day after admission on 19th July. He was not vaccinated.
The twelfth COVID-19 death is a 75-year-old woman from Kinoya who died at home on 19th July. She received her first dose of the vaccine in mid-May. She did not receive the 2nd dose of the vaccine. This means that she was not fully vaccinated.
There have been 3 more deaths of COVID-19 positive patients. However, their deaths have been classified as non-COVID deaths by their doctors.
Doctors have determined that these deaths were caused by serious pre-existing medical conditions and not COVID-19.
There have now been 125 deaths due to COVID-19 in Fiji, with 123 of these deaths during the outbreak that started in April this year.
The Health Ministry has also recorded 51 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 343 new recoveries reported since the last update, which means that there are now 14,943 active cases.
There have been 19,282 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021.
Fiji has recorded a total of 19,352 cases since the first case was reported in March 2020, with 4,233 recoveries.
There are 30 more deaths currently under investigation. These will be discussed once investigations (including test results) and classifications are complete.
A full breakdown of areas of interest has been published online on the Ministry’s COVID-19 dashboard.
401,404 adults in Fiji have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 80,894 have received their second doses.
Permanent Secretary for Health, Doctor James Fong says this means that 68.4% of the target population have received at least one dose and 13.8% are now fully vaccinated nationwide.
Meanwhile the 7-day average of new COVID-19 cases per day is 1046 cases per day or 1182 cases per million population per day.
Doctor Fong says with the high numbers of new daily cases we are also seeing increasing cases of severe disease and deaths.
232,972 samples have been tested since this outbreak started in April 2021, with 275,833 tested since testing began in March 2020.
The national 7-day average daily test positivity is 26%.
Doctor Fong says COVID-19 infections are widespread across the Suva-Nausori containment zone.
He says this means that if you develop any of the symptoms of COVID-19 you should assume you have COVID-19 and isolate yourself at home.
Do not wait for a positive test result to self isolate.
Isolating yourself will help to stop the spread of COVID-19 to others.
The symptoms of COVID-19 include cough, runny nose, nasal congestion, sneezing, fatigue/extreme tiredness, loss of taste or smell, headache, aches and pains, sore throat, fever, diarrhoea, red eyes and skin rash.
Severe COVID-19 is a medical emergency, and a delay in receiving appropriate medical treatment reduces your chance of recovering from the disease.
Severe symptoms of COVID-19 include difficulty breathing, persistent pain or pressure in the chest, severe headache for a few days, new confusion, inability to wake or stay awake, pale, gray, or blue-coloured skin, lips or nail beds.
If you or a loved one live in the Suva-Nausori Containment Zone and have any of these severe symptoms please go immediately to CWM Hospital, FEMAT Hospital, Vodafone Arena, 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.
Stay tuned for the latest news on our radio stations
