Ministry of Health

According to the Ministry of Health’s Permanent Secretary, Doctor James Fong, most of the deaths are elderly people.

Six of them are women and four men.

The oldest is a 92-year-old man who was not vaccinated and the youngest is a 42-year-old woman who was not fully vaccinated.

From the current list of deaths, eight are not vaccinated while two have received their first doses of the vaccine.

In the midst of these deaths, Fiji has recorded 634 new cases for the 24 hour period that ended at 8am yesterday.

Ministry of Health’s Permanent Secretary, Dr James Fong said there have been 101 new recoveries reported since the last update, which means that there are now 7,138 active cases.

Dr Fong added that there have been 8,591 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021.

He said five of the patients who died were not vaccinated while one received only the first jab of the vaccine.

The virus is taking its toll on the elderly population with two women aged 80 succumbing to COVID-19.

The other cases are aged between 44 and 68 years.

Ministry of Health’s Permanent Secretary, Doctor James Fong said the first death was a 74-year-old man was brought to FEMAT in Suva in acute respiratory distress.

The second case was a 71-year-old man also brought to FEMAT unresponsive.

A death which was previously under investigation has now been classified by the clinical team also as a COVID death.

There have now been 24 deaths due to COVID-19 in Fiji, with 22 during the outbreak that started in April this year.

This was recorded in the 24-hour period ending 8am today.

Of the 180 cases, 168 are from the Lami – Nausori containment area, 11 cases are from the Western Division and one case in Korovou, Tailevu.

The country recorded 126 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday with one death.

The Ministry of Health says the 42-year old man died at the CWM Hospital in Suva.

He was admitted to the hospital with leptospirosis and also tested positive for COVID-19 during his admission.

As a result the ministry has stood-down all personnel operating from the third floor of the Ministry of Health and Medical Services Headquarters in Suva.

Among the staff who are now working from home are Permanent Secretary for Health, Dr James Fong, Head of Health Protection, Dr Aalisha Sahukhan, and Chief Medical Advisor, Dr Jemesa Tudravu.

They have been identified as secondary contacts of the three cases.

The ministry said the primary contacts have been identified and safely quarantined.

Ifereimi Waqainabete's comments came after reports that six families in the greater Suva area had refused screening procedures, including having their temperatures taken.

The minister said officials were returning to convince the families to be screened as part of a greater community programme which had involved more than 6,000 locals.

But Mr Waqainabete said ultimately, the families did not have a choice.