Coronavirus

The death of the centenarian is one of 15 deaths recorded between 19 July and 21 July.

Fiji has recorded a total of 918 COVID-19 cases in the 24 hour period ending at 8am yesterday.

According to the Ministry of Health, of the 15 new deaths, 11 people were over the age of 60 while the other four were in their 40s and 50s.

161 people have died from COVID-19, with 159 of these deaths during the outbreak that started in April this year.

There have been 179 new recoveries reported since the last update.

There are now 16,403 active cases.

That compares to five new cases and one death in the previous 24 hours.

Morobe province recorded the largest numbers of new cases with 49.

The death toll in PNG remains at 192.

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Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare announced this in his nationwide address this week.

Mr. Sogavare says the students were among the 850 students who are currently in Fiji.

He says the COVID-19 situation in Fiji is worrying as 22 local students have been infected by the virus.

“Approximately 850 students, both government and privately sponsored students in all the training institutions in Fiji. Over 50 of these have graduated and can return home, the rest will remain.

That compares to 784 cases and 15 deaths in the previous 24-hour period.

The government also confirmed 12 more deaths between 13 and 19 July, taking the death toll to 125 with 123 of these from the latest outbreak that began in April.

Health Secretary James Fong said seven of the 12 victims had died at home, with one patient receiving one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine. The rest were unvaccinated.

There are now nearly 15,000 active cases in isolation.

The HMNZS Wellington delivered the vaccine consignment to the Fakaofo, Nukunonu and Atafu atolls of Tokelau.

The ship and its 76 crew used a rigid hulled inflatable boat and a Seasprite helicopter to carry out contactless delivery of the vaccines.

HMNZS Wellington Commanding Officer Lieutenant Commander Pip Davies said the weather provided some challenges to the delivery.

NSW recorded 78 new locally acquired cases of Covid-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm yesterday, with Premier Gladys Berejiklian saying 21 were infectious while in the community and eight were in isolation for part of their infectious period.

The isolation status of 12 cases remains under investigation.

Some 63,000 tests were done in the past day and they picked up cases in people who were not symptomatic, something the premier said was good news.

Excess deaths are a measure of how many more people are dying than would be expected compared to the previous few years.

Although it is difficult to say how many of these deaths have been caused by Covid-19, they are a measure of the overall impact of the pandemic.

India has officially recorded more than 414,000 Covid-19 deaths so far.

The country is one of the few major economies without an estimate of excess deaths during the pandemic.

The new cases were among the 1043 infections confirmed by the ministry on Sunday.

Over 14-thousand positive people are in isolation in the western and central divisions.

Health Secretary James Fong said the five patients are being isolated at the Levuka Hospital.

He said three of them were recorded on Ovalau while the other two on Gau.

He said the ministry is working with the Lomaiviti Provincial Council to monitor the situation on both islands.

The ABC understands the woman is the mother of twin removalists charged with breaching public health orders after travelling from Sydney to the Central West.

The brothers and another colleague received a call from NSW Health on Friday informing them that one had tested positive for coronavirus.

It is alleged the trio continued driving to Molong to finish the delivery.

"This is the 61st death in NSW related to Covid-19 and the fifth of the current outbreak," the spokesperson said.

"NSW Health extends its sincere sympathy to her family and friends."

The Ministry of Health’s Permanent Secretary, Doctor James Fong confirmed 13 new COVID-19 deaths for the period of 14th July to 17th July.

Most of these deaths are elderly people, the eldest being 88-year-old woman who was not vaccinated. The youngest was a 49-year old man who was not fully vaccinated.

From this list of new deaths, seven were women and six were men.

There have now been 98 deaths due to COVID-19, with 96 of these deaths during the outbreak that started in April this year.