Fiji records 33 Covid-19 cases in the northern division

Fiji has confirmed 33 cases of Covid-19 in the northern division.

The cases have been recorded for the period of the past seven days accounting for one percent of the cumulative cases nationally.

The Central Division recorded 64 cases, 48 in the West and two in the Eastern Division within the same period.

The Ministry of Health said travel for short-term goals to the North is likely to be adversely affected if a person turns out positive while in quarantine.

Permanent Secretary, Doctor James Fong said the ministry recorded 30 new cases since the last update, of which 18 were reported on Tuesday and 12 in the last 24 hours ending at 8am yesterday.

Vaccine-related herd protection is not likely to be as efficient with Covid-19 as seen with some of the traditional vaccine-related diseases.

The Ministry of Health said recent data verified and released by the CDC indicate that unvaccinated people with previous Covid-19 infection were five times more likely to have a positive test compared to vaccinated people.

Dr Fong said as such unvaccinated people cannot rely on herd immunity, nor natural immunity to protect themselves.

Fiji’s full vaccination coverage is 88.2 percent while the first dose coverage is currently at 96.7 percent.

The CovidD-19 death toll is 674.

There were no new deaths reported.