The Health Ministry confirms that they have reviewed their houses of worship protocols and will be providing an update after a meeting with religious leaders today.
Permanent Secretary for Health Doctor James Fong says they appeal to the public and community leaders to remain patient in the early days of implementing these protocols and to remain focused on the overall objective of creating COVID-safe conditions around all social gatherings including gatherings in houses of worship.
He stresses that social gatherings including gatherings in houses of worship have been recognized as avenues for high-level transmission of COVID-19 since the beginning of this pandemic.
Doctor Fong adds the issues of contained space, crowding and loud vocalization have contributed to facilitate high levels of transmission.
Permanent Secretary for Health Doctor James Fong says from next week, their COVID-19 updates will be provided on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Doctor Fong says the report will be in the form of a dashboard and public advice will be provided as needed.
A total of 594,242 adults in Fiji have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 478,535 have received their second doses.
This means 96.1% of adults have received at least one dose and 77.4% are now fully vaccinated nationwide.
As of 5th October, 22,130 children in Fiji have received their first dose of the Moderna vaccine.
The Health Ministry has confirmed nine COVID-19 deaths from 17th July to 3rd October 2021.
Eight COVID-19 deaths are from the Central Division and one is from the Western Division.
Permanent Secretary for Health Doctor James Fong says the five deaths from July and 3 deaths from August are being reported now due to a delay in the issuance of the official death certificate.
The first COVID-19 death is a 49-year-old woman from Suva.
She presented to the CWM Hospital in severe respiratory distress.
Sadly, she died 10 days after admission on 19th August 2021.
She was not fully vaccinated.
The second COVID-19 death is a 73-year-old woman from Suva.
She presented to the CWM Hospital in severe respiratory distress and died 6 days after admission on 17th July 2021.
She was not vaccinated.
The third COVID-19 death is a 42-year-old woman from Suva.
She presented to the CWM Hospital in severe respiratory distress.
This woman died 10 days after admission on 27th July 2021.
She was not vaccinated.
The fourth COVID-19 death is a 59-year-old man from Suva.
He presented to the CWM hospital in severe respiratory distress. Sadly, he died 7 days after admission on 26th July 2021. He was not vaccinated.
The fifth COVID 19 death is a 62-year-old man from Navua. He presented to the CWM Hospital Emergency Department in severe respiratory distress. Sadly, he died on the same day 22th September 21. He was not vaccinated.
The sixth COVID 19 death is a 74-year-old man from Suva. He presented to the CWM Hospital in severe respiratory distress. He died 13 days after admission on 4th August 2021. He was not vaccinated.
The seventh COVID19 death is a 55-year-old man from Suva. He presented to the CWM Hospital in severe respiratory distress. He died 2 days after admission on 24th July 2021. He was not vaccinated.
The eighth COVID 19 death is a 73-year-old woman of Suva. She presented to the CWM Hospital in severe respiratory distress. Sadly, she died one day after admission on 21st August 2021. She was not vaccinated.
The ninth COVID 19 death is a 69-year-old man from Nadi. He presented to the Lautoka Hospital in severe respiratory distress. Sadly, he died one day after admission on 30th September 2021. He was not vaccinated.
There have now been 647 deaths due to COVID-19 in Fiji, with 645 of these deaths during the outbreak that started in April this year.
Fiji has 55 new cases of COVID-19 for the 24 hour period that ended at 8am yesterday..
There are now 2,864 active cases.
Fiji has recorded a total of 51,328 cases since the first case was reported in March 2020.
There are currently 58 COVID-19 patients admitted to the hospital.
34 patients are admitted at the Lautoka Hospital and 24 are admitted at CWM Hospital, St Giles and Makoi.
6 patients are considered to be in severe condition, and 3 are in critical condition.
There have been 13 more deaths of COVID-19 positive patients.
Permanent Secretary for Health Doctor James Fong says these deaths have been classified as non-COVID deaths by their doctors.
He says the doctors have determined that these deaths were caused by a serious pre-existing medical condition and not COVID-19.
Doctor Fong says Fiji has also recorded 526 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.
Stay tuned for the latest news on our radio stations
