Fiji’s Ministry of Health and Medical Services has reported 590 new COVID-19 cases for the 24-hour period that ended at 8am today.
The ministry has also reported 11 COVID deaths over three days.
And among the deceased persons is a 72-year-old woman from Tavua who had presented to the Tavua Sub-Divisional hospital last Sunday with fever, cough and shortness of breath.
Ministry permanent secretary Dr James Fong said the woman had received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine but died less than two weeks after receiving her second dose, and meant she was not considered to be fully vaccinated.
Dr Fong said 420 of the reported cases were from the Western Division and 170 cases from the Central Division.
The deaths, reported for the period August 13-15, include:
- an 85-year-old man from Naitasiri who died at home on 13/08/2021. He was not vaccinated;
- an 83-year-old woman from Naitasiri who died at home on 13/08/2021. She was not vaccinated;
- an 82-year-old man from Sigatoka. He was declared dead on arrival by the attending medical officer at the Sigatoka Hospital. This means that he died on his way to the hospital or at home (15/08/2021). He was not vaccinated;
- a 68-year-old man from Suva. He presented to the CWM Hospital in severe respiratory distress. He died one day after admission on 15/08/2021. He was not vaccinated;
- a 5-year-old woman from Tailevu who died at home on 15/08/2021. He was not vaccinated;
- a 68-year-old woman from Tailevu who died at home on 15/08/2021. She received the 1st dose of the vaccine in early July. She did not receive the second dose of the vaccine. This means that she was not fully vaccinated;
- a 79-year-old man from Rakiraki who died at home on 15/08/2021. He was not vaccinated;
- a 72-year-old woman from Tavua. She presented to the Tavua Sub-Divisional Hospital on Sunday (15/08/2021) with a fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Sadly, she died a few hours later in the early hours of 16/08/2021. She received the first dose of the vaccine in early June. She received the second dose of the vaccine on 05/08/2021. However, as she got sick with COVID-19 less than 2 weeks after receiving the second dose, she was not fully vaccinated when she got infected with the virus. A person must have two doses of the vaccine and wait at least two weeks after the second dose to be considered fully vaccinated and to get the full protective effect of the vaccine;
- a 72-year-old man from Tavua. He presented to the Tavua Hospital in severe respiratory distress. He died on the same day (14/08/2021). He was not vaccinated;
- an 86-year-old man from Tavua. He presented to the Tavua Hospital in severe respiratory distress. He died on the same day (13/08/2021). He was not vaccinated; and
- an 88-year-old man from Lautoka who died at home on the same day (15/08/2021). He received the first dose of the vaccine in late-July. He did not receive the second dose of the vaccine. This means that he was not fully vaccinated.
“There have been 1304 new recoveries reported since the last update, which means that there are now 21,754 active cases. 14,554 active cases are in the Central Division, 7199 active cases in the Western Division and 1 active case in the Northern Division,” Dr Fong said.
“We are currently reviewing and reconciling our active case database with recoveries and as a result we expect the recovery numbers to increase in the coming weeks.”
There have been 41,107 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021; and a total of 41,177 cases in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020, with 18,795 recoveries.
With today’s newly-reported deaths, there have now been 405 deaths due to COVID-19 recorded in Fiji, with 403 of those deaths during the outbreak that started in April this year.
