626 new cases of COVID-19 while 9 deaths recorded from 21st to 25th July

626 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported for the 24 hour period which ended at 8am yesterday while 9 deaths have been recorded from 21st to 25th July.

79 cases are from the Western Division while the rest are from the Central Division.

The Head of Health Protection, Dr Aalisha Sahukhan confirms one of the deaths is a 44-year-old pregnant health care worker from Suva. She arrived at a medical facility with shortness of breath and chest pain. Her baby was delivered by the emergency cesarean team at the CWM Hospital. She was not vaccinated.

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

The third death is a 50-year-old man from Suva who died at home and was not fully vaccinated.

The fourth COVID-19 death is a 61-year-old woman from Tacirua who died at the CWM Hospital. She was not vaccinated.

The fifth death is a 62-year-old man from Suva who died at home and was not vaccinated.

The sixth death is a 60-year-old woman from Vatuwaqa and was not vaccinated.

The seventh death is a 75-year-old man from Nausori who died at a medical facility and was not vaccinated.

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

The ninth COVID-19 death is a 53-year-old man from Nausori who died at home and was not vaccinated.

Dr. Sahukhan says there have been seven more deaths of COVID-19 positive patients however their deaths have been classified as non-COVID-19 deaths as their doctors have determined that their deaths were caused by serious pre-existing medical conditions.

There have now been 186 deaths due to COVID-19 in Fiji with 184 deaths during the outbreak which started this year.

There have been 242 recoveries reported since the last update which means there are now 16,931 active cases.

Dr. Sahukhan says the seven-day average of new cases per day is 804 cases per day.

75.1 % of the target population has now received one dose of AstraZeneca vaccine and 16.4% of adults are now fully vaccinated.

Dr. Sahukhan adds nationally, their testing is averaging over 4 tests per 1,000 population per day and in Suva and Nausori, it is at 6 per 1,000 per day.

She says at a population level, they are still testing at much higher rates than a lot of developing countries and similar rates to high-income countries.

She says there is widespread and uncontrolled community transmission in the Suva-Nausori area and this means there are many more cases in this area which they are not picking in their testing.

Dr. Sahukhan says they are no longer in the containment phase in Suva and Nausori areas.