The Ministry of Health has noted the downturn in COVID-19 case numbers and positivity rate although they are limiting the testing to high-risk groups and places of concern.
Permanent Secretary for Health, Dr. James Fong says this coupled with the decreasing numbers of admissions, severe disease, and deaths are all consistently indicating that they are on the tail end of the epidemic.
He says the hospital COVID bed occupancy is getting less with increased critical care bed reserves which are now increasingly deployed for non-COVID clinical care and their oxygen therapy intervention reserves are at 80%.
Dr. Fong says these gains will support their national endeavor to get people back to their homes and facilitate their return to greater social and economic stability.
He says despite these gains, the Ministry of Health remains guarded in its outlook on the future.
Dr. Fong adds they are concerned that there remain too many pockets of unvaccinated communities with high numbers of vulnerable persons living among them.
He says the Ministry has put in place processes to identify these groups.
Meanwhile, 569,931 adults in Fiji have received their first dose of the vaccine and 341,679 have received their second doses. This means that 97.1% of the target population have received at least one dose and 58.2% are now fully vaccinated nationwide.
128 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported for the 24 hour period that ended at 8am today while no new deaths have been recorded due to this virus.
90 cases are from the Western Division and 38 cases are from the Central Division.
Permanent Secretary for Health, Dr. James Fong says there are now 12,814 active cases.
1,474 active cases are in the Central Division, 11,043 active cases in the Western Division, 2 active cases in the Northern Division (Macuata) and 295 active cases are in the Eastern Division (all in Kadavu).
There have been 2 deaths of COVID-19 positive patients however, these deaths have been classified as non-COVID deaths.
There have now been 535 deaths due to COVID-19 in Fiji.
The Ministry of Health has also recorded 365 COVID-19 positive patients who died from serious medical conditions that they had before they contracted COVID-19.
There are currently 127 COVID-19 patients admitted in hospital.
17 patients are in severe condition, and 4 are in critical condition.
37 COVID-19 cases have now been identified in Dakuni village on Beqa island, while 11 more cases have been diagnosed in Dakuibeqa village in the last 24 hours.
Permanent Secretary for Health, Dr. James Fong says this brings the total number of cases on the island to 48.
Three patients have been transferred to CWM Hospital including a 70-year-old patient with severe COVID-19 disease.
He says health teams continue to provide education and awareness to the villagers to assist in their acceptance of the much-needed testing and intervention on the island.
Movement restrictions remain in force for the whole island.
Meanwhile, no new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in Kadavu in the last 24 hours.
11 patients are admitted in Vunisea Hospital. 5 are COVID-19 positive and currently in stable condition while 6 have tested negative for the virus.
Dr. Fong says movement restrictions and targeted village lockdowns for Tawava Village and the villages in Yawe tikina remain in force.
He says Malolo island did not record any new case in the last 24 hours. Dr. Fong says movement restrictions remain in force for all villages on the island.
He also confirms surveillance and testing conducted in Gunu village and Nasoqo village on Naviti island revealed 9 new cases who are now in isolation in their villages.
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