1,285 new cases of COVID-19 recorded while 9 new COVID-19 deaths reported from 23rd to 26th July

1,285 new cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in the 24 hour period that ended at 8am today while 9 new COVID-19 deaths have been reported for the period from 23rd to 26th July.

1,083 cases are from the Central Division and 202 cases are from the Western Division.

The first COVID-19 death is a 82-year-old woman from Tamavua who died at home and was not vaccinated.

The second death is a 57-year-old man from Nadawa who died at home and was not vaccinated.

The third death is a 34-year-old man from Nadera. He arrived at the CWM Hospital in severe respiratory distress and died two days after admission. He was not fully vaccinated.

The fourth COVID-19 death is a 52-year-old man from Raiwasa. He died in the CWM Hospital 15 days after admission and was not vaccinated.

The fifth death is a 45-year-old woman from Samabula. She arrived at the CWM Hospital in severe respiratory distress and died 7 days after admission. She was not vaccinated.

The sixth COVID-19 death is a 73-year-old woman from Naitasiri. She arrived at a health facility in severe respiratory distress. She died on the same day. She was not vaccinated.

The seventh death is a 72-year-old man from Naitasiri who died at home and was not vaccinated.

The eighth death is a 89-year-old woman from Narere. She died at the CWM Hospital and was not vaccinated.

The ninth death is a 74-year-old man from Tacirua who died at home and was not vaccinated.

The Permanent Secretary for Health, Dr. James Fong says there have been 7 more deaths of COVID-19 positive patients however, their deaths have been classified as non-COVID deaths by their doctors. The doctors have determined that these deaths were caused by serious pre-existing medical conditions and not COVID-19.

There have now been 195 deaths due to COVID-19 in Fiji, with 193 of these deaths during the outbreak that started in April this year.

The 7 day rolling average of COVID-19 deaths per day is 8.

Dr. Fong says there have been 263 new recoveries reported since the last update, which means that there are now 17,937 active cases.

The 7-day average of new cases per day is 875 cases per day or 989 cases per million population per day. The daily case number increased today after a drop below the average in recent days, with most cases still being reported from the Central Division.

Dr. Fong says increasing numbers of daily cases are also being reported from the West.

He says day to day changes in case numbers are expected, and a few days of decreased case numbers should not be misinterpreted as an overall decline in cases in the community. He adds with testing remaining high, test positivity remaining high, and increasing cases being reported in the West, they expect average daily case numbers to remain at a high level and possibly increase. Meanwhile, 441,171 adults in Fiji have received their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine and 97,268 have received their second doses.

This means that 75.2% of the target population have received at least one dose and 16.6% are now fully vaccinated nationwide.