Fiji’s Health Minister Dr Ratu Antonio Lalabalavu has defended the government’s handling of the country’s HIV crisis.

HIV is surging in Fiji with at least 9000 people — or nearly one percent of the population — reported to be now infected.

There are concerns that the real figure could be significantly higher, with global health experts saying HIV is historically under-reported.

• READ MORE: Other HIV in Fiji reports

The World Health Organisation (WHO) believes the country has been gripped by an “escalating HIV outbreak”.

The island nation declared an HIV outbreak in January last year, with the government calling it “a national crisis” and regional health experts warning that it could spread across the region.

Dr Lalabalavu told Pacific Waves that despite the rising tide of infection the government’s response to the crisis had been “responsible”.

“Look at the [HIV] trend and how it started, it goes way back to 2017, 2018. We are the government that recognised it and now we are doing something about it.”

Budget allocation
The government allocated FJ$10 million (US$4.4 million) in last year’s Budget towards initiatives designed to tackle the problem, he said.

“From last year there have been government initiatives put in place to ensure that we do try and get this under control.”

Alarming stats
The Health Minister revealed some alarming HIV statistics in Parliament earlier this month.

“In 2025, Fiji recorded 2003 new diagnoses, up from 1583 in 2024, with the national rate diagnosis rising to 226 per 100,000, up from 13 per 100,000 in 2019 — a 17-fold increase,” he said.

“Men remain more affected, but the gap is narrowing, showing that infection is increasingly affecting women and families.”

On top of that, a new trend has emerged showing that the number of HIV-positive newborns is on the rise, according to the head of Fiji’s National HIV Outbreak and Cluster Response team, Dr Jason Mitchell.

Sixty babies were born with HIV last year, up from 31 cases in 2024 and more than 3 percent of women attending antenatal care in Fiji were testing positive for HIV, with the number slightly higher in the capital, Suva, Dr Mitchell said.

One baby is being diagnosed with HIV every week due to mother-to-child transmission, and one child is dying every month from advanced HIV disease.

Mother-to-child transmission
Mother-to-baby transmission is a growing concern, according to treatment support worker Dashika Balak.

“They (the mothers) test negatively initially but over the course of the pregnancy they acquire HIV,” Balak said.

“This is a new trend that we are seeing, because these women may not have risky behaviours but most of the partners are injecting drug users and in pregnancy people do have sex.”

Testing during pregnancy is now underway to reduce the risk of transmission to babies, she said.

Dr Lalabalavu has admitted that sexual promiscuity and drug use among youth in particular are huge contributing factors in the HIV epidemic.

Asked exactly how the government planned to address this, he said “a behavioural change programme” was needed to ensure that happens.

“It is part of the plan, you need good planning and a programme to ensure that is implemented across the board,” he said.

“It is not just something for the Ministry of Health, it’s for the various ministries, important stakeholders, the vanua, the church and the family in general.”

Conservative beliefs
Although there were plans to introduce a vital needle and syringe exchange programme, its rollout would take time, Dr Lalabalavu said.

“We will have to tread carefully in terms of how it is accepted within the community, and also we need to look into the legal aspect of it. So we are in the final stages of ensuring that the programme is endorsed.”

Cultural and religious beliefs played a part in the sensitivity around the issue in Fiji, he said.

“First of all, you need to create awareness that by doing this we are not advocating for drug use. That is the challenge and the narrative that we need the general public are aware of,” he said.

“Right now we are looking at avenues to ensure that we get the message to important stakeholders such as the community, the vanua, and religious-based organisations that are here.”

“We want to tap into their capabilities so they can, together with the ministry, pass this message along to their congregations and to the public at large,” he said.

Echoing this, Mitchell told Fiji’s state broadcaster that introducing the programme would not be easy, given the negative reactions in the past when condom use and family planning were phased in.

He said health officials were accused of promoting promiscuity among youth, when they were responding to public health needs.

However, he stressed that the needle and syringe programme was crucial to reducing HIV and Hepatitis C infections in the country.

Needle sharing is described as widespread in group settings, leading to infection clusters within families and communities.

The Health Minister said he expected that by the time the programme went public, it would be well accepted by the people.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Fiji’s Minister for Health and Medical Services has revealed the latest HIV numbers in the country to a development partner roundtable discussing the national response.

The minister reported 490 new HIV cases between October and December last year, bringing the 2024 total to 1583.

“Included in this number are 32 newborns diagnosed with HIV acquired through mother-to-child transmission,” Dr Atonio Rabici Lalabalavu said.

• READ MORE: Other Pacific HIV reports

Fiji declared an outbreak of the disease in January. The Fiji Sun reported around 115 HIV-related deaths in the January-September 2024 period.

Fiji’s Central Division reported 1100 new cases in 2024, with 427 in the Western Division and 50 in the Northern Division.

Of the newly recorded cases, less than half — 770 — have been successfully linked to care, of which 711 have been commenced on antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Just over half were aged in their twenties, and 70 percent of cases were male.

Increase in TB, HIV co-infection
Dr Lalabalavu said the increase in HIV cases was also seeing an increase in tuberculosis and HIV co-infection, with 160 individuals in a year.

He said the ministry strongly encouraged individuals to get tested, know their status, and if it was positive, seek treatment.

And if it is negative, to maintain that negative status.

“I will reiterate what I have said before to all Fijians – HIV should not be a death sentence in Fiji,” he said.

In the Western Pacific, the estimated number of people living with HIV (PLHIV) reached 1.9 million in 2020, up from 1.4 million in 2010.

At the time, the World Health Organisation said that over the previous two decades, HIV prevalence in the Western Pacific had remained low at 0.1 percent.

However, the low prevalence in the general population masked high levels of HIV infection among key populations.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Fiji’s Minister for Health and Medical Services has declared an HIV outbreak.

Dr Ratu Atonio Rabici Lalabalavu announced 1093 new HIV cases from the period of January to September 2024.

“This declaration reflects the alarming reality that HIV is evolving faster than our current services can cater for,” he said.

• READ MORE: Other HIV in the Pacific reports

“We need the support of every Fijian. Communities, civil society, faith-based organizations, private sector partners, and international allies must join us in raising awareness, reducing stigma, and ensuring everyone affected by HIV receives the care and support they need.”

In early December, the Fiji Medical Association called on the government to declare an HIV outbreak “as a matter of priority”.

As of mid-December, 19 under-fives were diagnosed with HIV in Fiji.

The UN Development Programme has recently delivered 3000 antiretroviral drugs to Fiji to support the HIV response.

World’s largest epidemic
A report released in mid-2024 showed that in 2023, 6.7 million people living with HIV were residing in Asia and the Pacific, making it the world’s largest epidemic after eastern and southern Africa.

“Among countries with available data, HIV epidemics are growing in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Fiji, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines,” the report said.

The regional director of UNAIDS Asia Pacific Eamonn Murphy said rising new infections in Fiji “put the entire Pacific region at risk”.

“Prioritisation of HIV by the government is critical for not only the people of Fiji, but the entire Pacific,” he said.

“Political will is the essential first step. There must also be community leadership and regional solidarity to ensure these strategies work.”

UNAIDS said the 1093 cases from January to September was three times as many as there were in 2023.

Preliminary Ministry of Health numbers show that among the newly-diagnosed individuals who are currently receiving antiretroviral therapy, half contracted HIV through injecting drug use. Over half of all people living with HIV who are aware of their status are not on treatment.

Second-fastest growth
“Fiji has the second fastest growing HIV epidemic in the Asia and the Pacific region,” Murphy said.

He said the data does not just tell the story about a lack of services, but it indicates that even when people know they are HIV-positive, they are fearful to receive care.

“There must be a deliberate effort to not only strengthen health systems, but to respond to the unique needs of the most affected populations, including people who use drugs.

“Perpetuating prejudice against any group will only slow progress.”

UNAIDS also said the HIV Outbreak Response Plan called for a combination of prevention approaches.

Since the sexual transmission of HIV remains a significant factor, other key approaches are condom distribution and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a treatment taken by an HIV-negative person to reduce the risk of contracting HIV if they are exposed.

UNAIDS support
Through the Australian government’s Indo-Pacific HIV Partnership, UNAIDS is supporting Fiji to scale up prevention approaches.

United Nations Resident Coordinator in Fiji Dirk Wagener said the outbreak declaration and the launch of high-impact interventions, such as needle syringe programmes and PrEP, marked a critical turning point in Fiji’s efforts to combat the epidemic.

“The Joint UN Team on HIV, with UNAIDS as its secretariat, stands ready to provide coordinated and sustained support to ensure the success of these strategies and to protect the most vulnerable.”

The HIV Surge Strategy includes tactics for Fiji to achieve the Global AIDS Strategy targets — 95 percent of all people living with HIV aware their status, 95 percent of diagnosed people on antiretroviral therapy, and 95 percent of people on treatment achieving a suppressed viral load.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

One in 50 Fijian children could have rheumatic heart disease and children between the ages of five to 15 years are the most at risk of rheumatic fever.

While revealing these alarming statistics, Health Secretary Dr James Fong revealed the high figures indicated the high screening conducted by the ministry, which was a positive sign in terms of early detection and early mitigation.

Speaking at the World Heart Day celebration in Suva yesterday, he said the ministry was focused on dedicating the best care to those diagnosed with rheumatic heart disease (RHD).

• READ MORE: Other Fiji health reports

It had been proven that with the best medical care, patients of the disease lived a long life.

Dr Fong highlighted the ministry’s advocacy and early detection awareness in the community remained the focus of the ministry, as it saw an opportunity to reach many Fijians as possible.

Meanwhile, Maca Tikoicina, the grandmother of young Jaydee Tikocina who was diagnosed with RHD last year, shared the painful experience their family had endured in the past 12 months.

She stated Jaydee was diagnosed in September 2022 and had to drop out of school as he became too weak and unable to carry out normal duties.

She highlighted that following through with doctors’ consultations, taking the prescribed medicines on time and following the strict injection schedule of one injection after every 21 days resulted in significant improvement in her grandchild’s life.

“When the doctors screened him in March, they noted some improvements in his heart at the recent check earlier this month, we were told Jaydee can play sports again,” she said.

According to Tikocina, sports and other physical activities were some of the many activities and joys that Jaydee was barred from when he was initially diagnosed.

Tikocina urged parents and guidance to get their children checked early and if they are diagnosed, the key was following medical advice.

She also encouraged Fijians to take advantage of the free screening programmes and outreaches organised by the Ministry of Health.

Pauliasi Mateboto is a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.

The mass migration of Fiji nurses could soon be curbed after the Health Ministry’s submissions to the government over the crisis.

Health Secretary Dr James Fong said justifications had been established in this submission on ways the ministry could retain nurses.

However, he would not want to preempt any decision by providing an update on this latest development.

• READ MORE: The Fiji nurse exodus

“So we will have to work out ways and means of facilitating retention and I think at the end of the day we have to look at something that’s broad,” Dr Fong said.

“It’s not only about looking at the salary restructure but also at other conditions beyond salary.

“I think that would be more cost effective in the long run than just looking at one aspect of the retention.”

Dr Fong believed the recently submitted submissions justified areas and ways in which the Health Ministry could better improve working conditions and salaries for nurses.

Health Minister Dr Atonio Lalabalavu had also indicated that countries in the region and around the world had been the recipient and benefactor of Fiji’s well-trained, experienced and capable health workforce and civil servants.

“Talk to any international expert in human resource for health and they will inform you that retiring employees early is not the strategy for staff shortage in health,” Dr Lalabalavu said during the Fiji Nursing Association’s 64th annual general meeting last weekend

“In fact, the opposite is true, you keep them longer while you build up the new intakes’ capabilities and skills.”

Siteri Sauvakacolo is a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.

Changing daily habits will be the difficult issue to address when creating awareness in Fiji against non-communicable disease (NCDs), says Health Secretary Dr James Fong.

Dr Fong said it required patience, empathy and resolve, but it was worth it for people to help loved ones and themselves.

He said targeting NCDs-related care and addressing the root causes of these diseases was vital to Fiji’s response to covid-19’s inevitable progression towards becoming endemic.

• READ MORE: $400m burden: Whole of society needed to to deal with NCDs – Dr Fong
• There’s a threat deadlier than covid-19, Fijians warned

“The three divisional hospitals team also has a roving team that provides mobile support for patients,” he said.

“The wellness team has engaged institutions and organisations through the virtual modes and has run sessions on wellness and NCDs for the Ministry of Youth and Sports and Fiji Sports Commission, youth leaders and ambassadors to empower them as champions in their communities.

“The wellness unit has worked with the Fiji Sports Commission, Ministry of Youth and Sports and WHO (World Health Organisation) to develop videos for keeping physically active in pandemic and lockdowns.”

Dr Fong said that to ensure their staff were catered for as well, they were working with WHO to provide support for mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) for frontliners.

“Through the My Kana app and social media platforms we’re also encouraging an uptake of the Ministry of Agriculture “Grow From Home” gardening initiative and eating correctly-portioned meals.

“Division by division we’re taking this campaign to the grassroots, conducting home visits to conduct check-ups, operating local clinics that offer NCDs-related care, building capacity among healthcare staff through virtual training sessions, and informing people of our tele-health system.”

Luke Rawalai is a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.

Fiji has recorded 987 covid-19 cases, says Ministry of Health permanent secretary Dr James Fong who says the latest deaths are a “stark reminder” of the seriousness of the pandemic.

Fiji’s government reported on Monday 11 more people had died from covid-19, including a four-month-old girl and 15-year-old boy.

Dr Fong said 656 cases were recorded last Saturday while 81 new cases were recorded on Sunday and 250 new cases in the past 24 hours ending at 8am on Monday morning.

• READ MORE: Covid-19: Schools reopen amid third wave in Fiji
• Other Fiji covid outbreak reports

Dr Fong said it was known there remained a high risk of resurgence of endemic variants and the arrival of new variants.

“Our socioeconomic survival depends on our ability to build and sustain individual and community-wide resilience. We should expect that covid-19 will be endemic, however we need to appreciate that ‘endemic’ doesn’t mean harmless,” he said.

“Endemic means that we expect continued circulation of the disease in the community, the baseline levels of which are yet to be determined.

“Leptospirosis, typhoid and dengue are endemic in Fiji and they are associated with serious outcomes, especially when the number of cases increases to outbreak levels.

“Building resilience means that we must adopt healthier lifestyles, make covid-safe behaviour a habit that we adopt and support others to adopt. Our objective is to live with the virus and, at the same time, ensure a high level of transmission suppression and prevention of severe outcomes.”

Luke Rawalai is a Fiji Times journalist. Republished with permission.

Fiji’s Ministry of Health and Medical Services has reported 1280 new covid-19 community cases since the last update on January 5.

“We have recorded a total of 1280 new cases; of which 348 new cases were recorded on 06/01/2022, 320 new cases were recorded on 07/01/2022 and 612 new cases in the last 24 hours ending at 8 am this morning,” the ministry said in a statement on Saturday evening.

Of the 1280 cases recorded since the last update, 619 cases were recorded in the Central Division; 535 cases were recorded in the Western Division, 114 cases were recorded in the Northern Division, and 12 cases in the Eastern Division.

• READ MORE: Fiji denies tourist’s claims of covid ‘nightmare’ mistreatment by locals
• Fiji covid-19 third wave outbreak

Overall, there have been 57,187 cases recorded, with 69 percent of the cases from the Central Division, 27 percent of the cases from the Western Division, 1 percent of the cases from the Eastern Division, and 3 percent from the Northern Division.

Fiji’s national 7-day rolling average is 349 daily cases calculated for 4 January 2022.

There are five covid-19 deaths to report:

• The first covid-19 death to report is of an 89-year-old female from Taveuni who died at home on January 4. She had pre-existing medical conditions and was not vaccinated.
• The second covid-19 death to report is of a 55-year-old male from Nausori who died at home on January 4. He had a pre-existing medical condition, received his first dose of the covid-19 vaccine in mid-July and the second dose in mid-August. He was fully vaccinated.
• The third covid-19 death to report is of a 61-year-old female from Caubati who died at home on January 6. She had multiple pre-existing medical conditions that contributed to her death. She was not vaccinated.
• The fourth covid-19 death to report is of an 83-year-old female from Suva who died at home on January 7. She had received her first dose of the covid-19 vaccine in mid-June and the second dose in mid-August. She was fully vaccinated.
• The fifth covid-19 death to report is of a 27-year-old male from Nausori who died at home on January 7. He had a significant predisposing medical condition that was assessed by the attending doctors to have contributed to his death. He received the first dose of his covid-19 vaccine at the end of July and his second dose, mid-September. He was fully vaccinated.

There has been a total of 709 deaths due to covid-19 in Fiji.

Rohit Deo is a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.

The Australian government is assisting its citizens stranded in Fiji who also claimed they were mistreated by locals — claims rejects by tourism authorities — after testing positive to covid-19 when they arrived in the country on Boxing Day.

The move follows claims by an Australian family that they were locked in their hotel rooms and ignored by the staff soon after returning positive results for the coronavirus.

Fiji reopened its borders to international travellers on December 1 and that 30,000 visitors had arrived in the country since.

• READ MORE: Fiji covid outbreak updates
• Smartraveller

Tourism Fiji said about 75,000 people had booked to stay in hotels and resorts across the country through to the end of January.

Australia is Fiji’s largest tourism market with more than 40 percent of the visitors from Down Under.

In a report, dated 4 January 2022 and aired on Australia’s Channel 7 network, Jacqueline Hoy claimed that what was supposed to be a dream holiday in Fiji had quickly turned into a nightmare for her family.

Hoy said their ordeal began when her brother tested positive for covid-19 soon after the family arrived at Nadi Airport from Sydney on December 26.

Claim family was separated
She also claimed her family was separated and support was scarce.

Hoy said they were locked in their hotel rooms and did not get any food for three days — with calls for help to the hotel staff ignored.

“It is an absolute nightmare,” Hoy told the network. “On arrival at the hotel to check-in, there was no signage, no hand sanitiser and we waited four hours at the reception to check into our room.

“We didn’t get access to our rooms until 11.30pm. We were forced to sign a consent form which basically waived all our rights in relation to covid-19, access to our reports and medical records.

“I haven’t seen any medical reports, I’ve only been told I’m covid positive and I can’t leave my room in 10 days.

“We’ve been told that if any of our family members are seen together, coercing in the corridors — those who are negative will have to stay an extra seven days.”

The family is working with the Australian High Commission in Suva to get them home.

Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said it was providing consular assistance, in accordance with the Consular Service Charter, to the family.

“Due to privacy obligations we are unable to provide further information,” the DFAT said in a statement.

Tourism Fiji refutes tourist’s claims
Tourism Fiji chief executive officer Brent Hill has rejected Hoy’s claims saying this is not the full story.

Hill did not respond to a request for comment from RNZ Pacific but he told local media that the stakeholders in Fiji’s tourism industry took these allegations seriously and were facilitating both sides of the dispute.

The hotel in question on the popular Coral Coast strip has refused to comment.

Fiji’s Hotel and Tourism Association said its investigation had also found that Hoy had made false claims.

The association’s chief executive, Fantasha Lockington, said 30,000 visitors had already visited Fiji over the last five weeks and the majority of them had a wonderful experience.

Both Tourism Fiji and FHTA are expected to release a joint statement soon.

Fiji is currently battling a third wave of the coronavirus with a total of 3009 active cases in isolation and the death toll at 704.

Fiji’s Health Ministry said there were 1555 covid-19 cases recorded since January 1 with 372 of them confirmed on Wednesday.

Health Minister Dr Ifereimi Waqainabete said the Australian woman’s claims of mistreatment by the locals were concerning.

Dr Waqainabete said he had viewed the Channel 7 report, adding that the safety of all visitors to Fiji was important.

“I’ve seen her talking and certainly she does not look too unwell — so we are thankful for that. Certainly, as I’ve alluded to the fact that she is being able to be fully vaccinated also supports her in that regard.

“But her health and safety is very important. That is something that we’ve been working on with Tourism Fiji and the Fiji Hoteliers Association.”

Dr Waqainabete said he had visited some of the hotels and resorts to check their standard operating procedures before Fiji’s borders reopened.

There are occasions where some challenges would be faced, he said.

“I am also grateful that there have been thousands and thousands of visitors that have come through to Fiji safely and have gone back home safely. And that is a testament to the processes that we have in place.”

Be prepared for challenges, Australians told
Covid-19 remains an ongoing global health risk, and Australians who travel overseas during the pandemic have been urged to be aware of the continued challenges associated with international travel.

A government travel advisory states that Australians travelling overseas must be fully prepared, to closely monitor the covid-19 situation in their intended travel destinations and arrange suitable travel insurance.

They are also encouraged to consult the Smartraveller website for the latest travel advice and the Global Covid-19 Health Advisory.

Travel advice in relation to Fiji is available at Fiji Travel Advice & Safety/Smartraveller.

Australians have also been told that the reopening of their borders is not a return to the pre covid-19 international travel environment.

“All travellers need to be aware of risks and take care regardless of where they travel,” a government travel advisory stated.

“This includes having sufficient funds to meet their travel needs and ensuring they have travel insurance and fully understand the details of their insurance, especially regarding contracting covid-19.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Fiji is bracing for a third wave of the covid-19 virus after tests have confirmed the presence of the omicron variant in local communities.

The country’s Health Secretary Dr James Fong said today the ministry was prioritising testing of suspected individuals to prevent severe illness and death and to focus on suppression where the risk of transmission was high.

“Omicron is vastly more infectious than delta. As such, in keeping with what we see in other countries, the omicron will become the dominant variant,” said Dr Fong.

• READ MORE: Omicron variant confirmed in Fiji
• ‘Stay home and don’t attend any gatherings if you have symptoms’, says Fong
• Fiji parents warned about sick children in back-to-school catch-up
• Other Fiji covid-19 reports

“As omicron spreads very fast, you should assume you are infected, and self-isolate, if you develop any cold/flu-like symptoms such as runny nose, sneezing, nasal congestion, sore throat, cough, body ache, or fever.

“Gatherings have been observed where covid-safe measures have not been followed, or people have attended while having symptoms. We ask that if you have relaxed in your observance of covid safe measures, that you please resume now.

According to Dr Fong, 580 new cases of both the delta and omicron variant were recorded between Monday and eight o’clock today.

Of the 580 cases recorded since the last update, 146 cases were recorded in the Northern Division, 111 cases were recorded in the Western Division, 303 cases were recorded in the Central Division, and 20 cases in the Eastern Division.

2417 active cases in Fiji
There are currently 2417 active cases of covid-19 in the country.

The Health Ministry has recorded two additional deaths in its latest report, bringing the total death toll to 712 during the pandemic.

However, Dr Fong said the omicron variant was likely to cause milder disease as data from the United Kingdom and South Africa had shown the risk of hospitalisation was reduced by 80 percent and, once in hospital, the risk of severe diseases was reduced by 70 percent when compared to the delta variant.

“As with previous variants, unvaccinated people are at higher risk of severe disease. With more than 92 percent of adults fully vaccinated, we expect that our high vaccination rates, plus the infection-induced immunity from the large number of people who were infected during the last wave, will help to lower the number of people that develop severe disease.

“We continue to see that the majority of individuals testing positive in medical facilities are presenting for non-covid medical problems and found to be positive while undergoing routine screening as all admissions to the hospital are currently tested for covid-19.

“Also, the vast majority of cases turning positive have minimal symptoms and remain stable.

He added that severe outcomes would be expected in some individuals, including those who have been immunised with two doses of the vaccine, especially people with severe underlying medical conditions and people over the age of 50.

‘Monitored … in a timely manner’
“We have in place measures that ensure that those vulnerable to severe disease are adequately monitored, tested, retrieved, and effectively managed in a timely manner before their conditions worsen.

“However, we need the cooperation and support of community networks in formal and informal community settings and business settings, working in tandem with the ministry.

The ministry has advised the public to self-isolate at home if they have any of the covid-19 symptoms.

A health care worker must isolate for seven days while everyone else is required to isolate for 10 days.

Meanwhile, Fijians who are eligible to get their booster shot have been advised to do so as the country fights the new variant.

Josefa Babitu is a University of the South Pacific student journalist and contributor to Asia Pacific Report.

Health authorities in Fiji have confirmed two people who had arrived in the country from southern Africa last month have now tested positive to the omicron variant of covid-19.

The pair travelled to Fiji from Nigeria on November 25.

They both tested positive to covid-19 while in a border quarantine facility.

• READ MORE: Other Fiji public health reports

Health Secretary Dr James Fong said last night their samples were sent to a reference laboratory in Australia for urgent genomic sequencing.

Dr Fong said both travellers’ results were confirmed positive for the omicron variant.

“The two travellers are Fijian citizens who had travelled back into Fiji from Nigeria, arriving on Fiji Airways flight FJ1392 from Hong Kong on November 25 — the day the discovery of the omicron variant was announced internationally,” Dr Fong said.

“Both travellers tested negative for covid-19 before departure from Fiji and before they left Nigeria.

Fully vaccinated
“They entered a government-designated border quarantine facility immediately upon arrival into Fiji, tested positive while in quarantine, currently have no symptoms, and were fully vaccinated.”

With the exception of four passengers, Dr Fong said other passengers on the flight were from non-travel partner countries.

“They had entered a border quarantine facility upon arrival to undergo the full quarantine protocol of 10 days,” Dr Fong said.

“That has since been extended to 14 days.

“The four passengers on the flight who were from a travel partner country have tested negative.

“The Fiji Airways crew and accompanying passengers from FJ1392 have tested negative at least twice,” Dr Fong said.

No directives to crew
Fiji Airways confirmed none of its crew or staff have been given government directives to isolate.

The airline said it had strict protocols which forced all staff to undergo swabs before and after international flights.

“None of our crew are in quarantine or have tested positive to covid-19. We understand two cases of interest have tested positive but there is no confirmation on which variant it is,” Fiji Airways said in a statement.

“However, given this new threat our staff will undergo PCR testing as a precautionary measure.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

With most of its eligible adult population covered, Fiji’s covid-19 vaccine rollout for teenagers is gaining pace.

The Health Ministry said 28,965 children aged 15 to 17 had received a first vaccine dose — and 3892 teenagers had received a second.

The rollout was recently extended to this age bracket after vaccination rates covered almost all of Fiji’s eligible adult population aged 18 and over — 95.9 percent of them have received their first vaccine dose, and 84.4 percent have had a second.

• READ MORE: Other Fiji covid reports

Daily reports on new cases of covid-19 in Fiji continue to show numbers are well down on the peak from late July.

The Health Ministry on Thursday reported 25 new covid cases, taking the total number of cases to date to almost 52,000.

Health Secretary Dr James Fong said in the past seven days, 285 cases had been reported, around two-thirds of which were in the central division.

But the rolling daily average is in the dozens, well down on the peak of late July when hundreds and sometimes over a thousand cases were reported.

Dr Fong said there had been 663 deaths due to covid, all but two of them in the outbreak that started in April.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Fiji’s Ministry of Health’s clinical scoping team on the remote southern island of Kadavu has begun to put together a response plan to help escalate its response to an expected wave of severe covid-19 infections and deaths.

On Friday, a total of 47 cases were recorded outside the main island of Viti Levu — 46 on Kadavu, and one at Nabouwalu, Bua, on the second largest island Vanua Levu.

More villagers on Kadavu have tested positive and were among 303 new cases in Fiji reported for the 24 hours to 8am yesterday.

• READ MORE: More covid-19 infections on remote Fiji island
• Other Fij covid reports

The government also confirmed five people had died, bringing the death toll to 438 – 436 of them from the outbreak that began in April this year.

A key part of the Kadavu response plan is to identify people vulnerable to severe covid and to “pre-emptively engage them in a care plan that allows early identification of danger symptoms and signs and access to clinical care in a timely manner”.

Health Secretary Dr James Fong said the situation in Kadavu remained a major concern and they anticipated their plan would be a challenging exercise.

“Another important part of the response to mitigate severe disease will be community-wide engagement to establish specific plans that help maintain oversight over vulnerable persons, and facilitate their timely transfer to a health care facility when required,” Dr Fong said last night.

Screening continues
He said the public health team was also continuing with screening and isolation protocols.

Dr Fong has also reiterated calls for maritime islanders to refrain from engaging in any unauthorised travel to and from Viti Levu.

All the current protocols to regulate domestic movements must be adhered to in order to prevent spread of the virus beyond Viti Levu, he said.

“We repeat our call to all village leaders and elders to support our current efforts to protect our maritime islands and to immediately report any suspicious movements into your community.”

Timoci Vula is a reporter with The Fiji Times. Republished with permission.

More than 800 cases of covid-19 have been reported in Fiji for the last 48 hours to 8am on Monday and the first case in the north has been reported.

The Fiji government also confirmed 26 deaths, bringing the toll to 394.

That compares with 958 cases and 23 deaths in the previous 48-hour period.

• READ MORE: Other Fiji covid crisis reports

Health Secretary Dr James Fong said 817 new cases were confirmed in both the Western and Central DivisionS on the main island of Viti Levu.

He said of the latest cases, 500 were from the west and the rest from the central.

Dr Fong said 350 new cases and 23 deaths were confirmed yesterday while 467 cases and three deaths were reported on Sunday.

He said all the victims died between August 11 and 15, and aged 43-86 years.

“We have 23 covid-19 deaths to report on Monday – 20 of them from the west and three from the central division. There were three victims from Sunday.

“The 7-day rolling average of covid deaths in the Central Division is five and 3 in the West.”

There are 208 positive patients who died but Dr Fong said their deaths were caused by pre-existing medical conditions and not due to covid-19.

Fiji now has 22,494 active cases in isolation, with more than half of them at home.

There have been 394 deaths reported, with 392 of them from this latest outbreak that began in April.

This came after the country’s second largest island – Vanua Levu – recorded its first case of covid-19 last weekend. As of midnight, movement has been restricted in the area for 14 days, the Health Ministry said.

It said contact tracing teams had identified 33 primary and 70 secondary contacts of the patient who worked at the Nabouwalu Wharf in Bua. All the contacts have tested negative for covid and remain under quarantine.

“As a precaution, an area of restricted movement will be initiated from within Nabouwalu for the next 14 days,” Dr Fong said.

“The containment area will extend from Raralevu-i-Cake to Wainisevu and along the coast of Nabouwalu Village.

“The two checkpoints maintained in the containment will be checkpoint one opposite the Nabouwalu market controlling movement into the main road that runs into the containment area and checkpoint two at Raralevu-i-cake past Nabouwalu village towards Wainunu.

“The objectives of this containment zone protocol is to facilitate heightened community surveillance, conduct more contact tracing, escalate our covid safe community engagement program and to increase vaccination coverage in targeted areas throughout the Nabouwalu containment zone.”

Dr Fong said movement into and out of the containment area would be restricted to facilitate essential service provision and access to groceries and post-office services.

He said the office of the provincial administrator and subdivisional medical teams has been carrying out community awareness on other specific movement restriction protocols.

“They will continue this awareness exercise throughout the next couple of days. The northern health team is setting up clinic sites at the Solevu Immaculate Conception Junior Secondary School, the Bua Nursing Station and the Lekutu Health Centre to cater for the health needs of those living outside the containment area.

“Nabouwalu hospital will also be used by the health teams for emergency care only.”

300 plus covid patients in hospital
There are 309 covid-19 patients admitted to hospital — 118 are at the Lautoka Hospital, 49 at the FEMAT field hospital, and 142 are at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital, St Giles and Makoi hospitals.

Dr Fong said 38 patients are in severe condition and 15 critical.

A total of 652 people have been screened and 179 swabbed in the last 24 hours, “bringing our cumulative total to 456,883 individuals screened and 79,508 swabbed to date.

“As of the 15th August, 41 individuals were screened and seven swabbed. This brings our cumulative total to 790,410 individuals screened and 69,932 swabbed by our mobile teams.

“A total of 308,570 samples have been tested since this outbreak started in April 2021, with 351, 431 tested since testing began in March 2020. 848 tests have been reported for August 15th. The 7-day daily test average is 1538 tests per day or 1.7 tests per 1000 population.”

Fiji’s seven-day average daily test positivity is 29.1 percent. The World Health Organisation (WHO) threshold is at five percent.

Dr Fong said as of 15 August, 533,705 people had received their first dose of the vaccine and 211,496 both jabs.

“This means that 91 percent of the target population have received at least one dose and 36.1 percent are now fully vaccinated nation-wide.

“We are currently doing a mop up exercise of our first dose campaign, which will allow us to specifically target specific communities with low coverage, and subsequently also correct and update the total eligible population for our current vaccination program.

“Fijians can check the Ministry’s vaccine dashboard to find real-time data on first-dose and second-dose numbers at the national, divisional and sub-divisional levels.”

Dr Fong said the average daily new cases is 429 cases per day or 485 cases per million population per day.

He said there had been a drop in cases reported per day recently. But the daily testing numbers had also decreased around the same time due to the change in testing policy in the Suva-Nausori containment zone.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Fifty percent of Fijians who died from covid-19 were at home at the time of their deaths.

The Fiji government said it had noted that many people dying of covid-19 had not given healthcare workers a chance to treat them.

The Health Ministry reported 398 new cases of covid-19 and five deaths for the 24 hours to 8am yesterday.

• READ MORE: Other Fiji covid crisis reports

That compares with 568 cases and 13 deaths in the previous 24-hour period.

Health Secretary Dr James Fong said there were enough ventilators in health facilities across the country to accommodate the covid patients.

“We got ventilators but unfortunately many people are dying from coronavirus at home or due to late presentations,” he said.

“Severe coronavirus is a medical emergency and a delay in receiving appropriate medical treatment reduces your chance of recovering from the disease.

Plea to visit healthcare facilities
“If you have severe symptoms of coronavirus, please visit the nearest healthcare facility to get medical treatment. Call 165 if you are unable to travel to a medical facility.”

There have been 345 deaths due to covid-19 in Fiji, with 343 of those victims dying during the outbreak that started in April this year.

There have been 38,742 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021; and 38,812 cases recorded in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020, with 14,301 recoveries.

Of the latest cases, Dr Fong said 254 were from the Western Division and 144 from the Central Division.

Dr Fong said of the five deaths, three were reported from the Central Division and two in the Western Division.

“There have been eight more deaths of covid-19 positive patients. However, these deaths have been classified as non-covid deaths by their doctors,” he said.

“There have been 345 deaths due to covid-19 in Fiji, with 343 of those deaths during the outbreak that started in April this year.”

300 in hospital
“There have been 38,742 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021; and 38,812 cases recorded in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020, with 14,301 recoveries.”

Dr Fong said there are 300 patients admitted to the hospital — 62 at Lautoka Hospital, 67 at the FEMAT field hospital and 171 patients at the CWM, St Giles and Makoi hospitals.

He said 41 patients are considered to be in severe condition, and nine in critical condition.

He said as of August 9, a total of 513, 535 adults in Fiji had received their first dose of the vaccine and 180,722 had received their second doses.

“This means that 87.5 percent of the target population have received at least one dose and 30.8 percent are now fully vaccinated nation-wide,” Dr Fong said.

Drop in daily cases
Meanwhile, the ministry noted a drop in cases reported daily recently.

Dr Fong said the seven-day average of new cases per day is 730 cases per day or 825 cases per million population per day.

This figure fluctuated at least over the past week, Dr Fong said with numbers recorded in four-digits at the height of soaring infections reported largely in the Central Division, and spiking numbers in the West.

Just a week ago, Dr Fong was reporting the following seven-day average of new cases:

• Tuesday, August 3: 1220 new cases reported in 24 hours; Seven-day average of new cases per day – 1085 cases per day or 1226 cases per million population per day
• Wednesday, August 4: 1187 new cases reported in 24 hours; Seven-day average of new cases per day – 1103 cases per day or 1247 cases per million population per day
• Thursday, August 5: 968 new cases in 24-hour reporting period; Seven-day average of new cases per day – 1156 cases per day or 1193 cases per million population per day
• Friday, August 6: 752 new cases in 24-hour period; Seven-day average of 997 cases per day or 1127 cases per million population per day
• Saturday, August 7: 682 new cases in 24-hour period; Seven-day average of new cases per day – 934, or 1056 cases per million population per day
• Sunday, August 8: 657 new cases in 24-hour period; Seven-day average of new cases per day is 938 cases per day or 1060 cases per million population per day
• Monday, August 9: 603 new cases in 24-hour period; Seven-day average of new cases per day is 867 cases per day or 980 cases per million population per day.

Test numbers dropping
Dr Fong said while they had noted a drop in recent cases reported per day, their daily testing numbers had also been dropping around the same time.

He attributed this to the change in testing policy in the Suva-Nausori containment area.

Fiji’s Dr James Fong … “resources [being] targeted to early detection, monitoring and care of persons with covid-19, who are at higher risk of severe disease.” Image: RNZ/Fiji govt[/caption]

Dr Fong said, as announced on July 21, only persons that have a higher risk of developing severe covid-19 were being tested in Suva-Nausori.

“This was done so that resources could be targeted to early detection, monitoring and care of persons with covid-19, who are at higher risk of severe disease, to prevent more people succumbing to severe disease and death,” Dr Fong said in an epidemic outlook of the pandemic in the country.

“We are likely seeing the effect of this testing policy change now in Suva-Nausori with the drop in daily reported cases.

“This does not mean that the outbreak is on a downward trend in the Suva-Nausori community.”

Dr Fong said daily case numbers in Suva-Nausori were not being used as an indicator at present to monitor the progress of the outbreak in Suva-Nausori.

Closely monitoring
“The ministry is closely monitoring other indicators such as test positivity, hospitalisations and deaths to track the progress of the outbreak in Suva-Nausori.

“Test positivity in Suva-Nausori was between 40-50 percent before the change in testing policy and has remained at this high level, which is above the national average.

This is one indicator of the continuing high level of community transmission in this area.

“Dr Fong said testing levels in the Western Division remained high with 3.8-4 tests per 1000 population per day at a 7-day average.

“We are seeing increasing cases reported in the Western Division with evidence of widespread community transmission in that division.

“We are also recording increasing numbers of people with severe disease and deaths in the West.

“The World Health Organisation (WHO) test threshold is five percent.

Dr Fong urged the people to continue to adhere to covid-19 safety protocols and restrictions put in place.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Fiji has admitted 240 covid-19 patients to hospital and almost a dozen of them are in critical condition, say health authorities.

This comes amid 657 new cases of the coronavirus for the 24 hours to 8am yesterday.

The government also confirmed three deaths, taking the toll to 299.

• READ MORE: Other Fiji civid crisis reports

That compares with 682 cases and six deaths in the previous 24-hour period.

Health Secretary Dr James Fong said all three victims were not vaccinated.

* An 86-year-old woman from Newtown in Nasinu died at home on August 6.

* A 73-year-old woman from Kinoya, Nasinu, also died at home on August 6.

* A 71-year-old man from Cunningham died at home on August 7.

Dr Fong said that in Suva, 69 patients were admitted at the FEMAT field hospital, and 171 at the CWM, St Giles and Makoi hospitals.

Dr Fong also said that as of August 5, a total of 504,695 adults in Fiji had received their first dose of the vaccine and 170,901 got both jabs.

“This means that 86 percent of the target population have received at least one dose and 29.1 per cent are now fully vaccinated nation-wide.”

Fiji now has 24,138 active cases in isolation, with 299 deaths — 297 of them from this latest outbreak that began in April.

Ministry considers Pfizer vaccine for children
The Health Ministry is exploring the possibility of getting the Pfizer vaccine for children aged 12 to 17, head of Fiji’s Covid-19 vaccination taskforce Dr Rachel Devi said.

Currently, only the AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines are in Fiji.

Dr Devi said the Pfizer vaccine was being used to vaccinate children in most countries.

“We know Pfizer has been used for 12-17 years of age so we are definitely exploring the possibility of Pfizer,” Dr Devi said.

“These mRNA vaccines are pretty rare like all vaccines right now. The demand is so high but supply is limited.

“We’ve already had two deaths with children, one a 15-year-old and one an 11-month-old toddler.”

No timeline
Dr Devi could not give a timeline on how soon the Pfizer vaccine would be available to Fiji.

She said it was a tough question because “it just depends on supply and availability. It’s a demand and supply issue and being able to access that.

“I know a lot of countries have solely used Pfizer, some are having mixed vaccination programmes going with different vaccines.”

But Dr Devi said she was hoping to secure the vaccine as early as possible because that would “bring our herd immunity to a better state.”

Dr Devi said they were using support from UNICEF and the COVAX facilities to access the Pfizer vaccines for children.

Briefly

• 586 new recoveries reported since the last update
• 19,005 active cases are in the Central Division and 5133 in the West
• 7-day rolling average of deaths per day is 6.
• 158 positive patients died from the serious medical conditions that they had before they contracted the virus; these are not classified as covid deaths.
• 36,909 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021
• 36,979 cases in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020
• 12,384 recoveries since March last year
• 294,860 samples tested since April 2021
• 337,721 tested since March 2020
• 1981 tests reported for 6 August
• 7-day daily test average is 3010 tests per day or 3.4 tests per 1000 population
• 7-day average daily test positivity is 31.3 percent — WHO threshold is at five percent.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Fiji has reported 968 new cases of covid-19 and 11 more deaths, including a teenager, for the 24 hours to 8am yesterday.

That compares with 1187 infections and 11 deaths in the previous 24-hour period.

The government also confirmed last night that all but one of the victims were not vaccinated.

• READ MORE: Other Fiji covid crisis articles

Of the latest cases, 292 were from the Western Division while the rest from the Central Division.

More than 23,000 covid-positive people are in isolation, with more than a quarter of them at home.

Health Secretary Dr James Fong said 385 people had recovered from the coronavirus, which means there are now 23,226 active cases in isolation.

He said 18,589 of them are in the Central Division and 4637 in the west.

11 deaths recorded
“All cases that were recorded in the Northern and Eastern Divisions (cases that were imported from Viti Levu) have recovered and there are no active cases currently in those divisions.

“There have been 34,818 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021. We have recorded a total of 34,888 cases in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020, with 11,233 recoveries.”

Dr Fong said the latest 11 deaths were recorded between August 2 and 5, eight of them in the Central Division and three in the west.

• A 15-year-old girl from Tavua presented to a medical facility in respiratory distress and she was transferred to Lautoka Hospital on August 2. Her family reported that she had a fever, cough and shortness of breath two days prior to visiting the health centre. Clinical investigations revealed she had both leptospirosis and covid-19.

“Sadly, her condition worsened at the hospital and she died one day after admission,” Dr Fong said. “Her doctors have determined that she died from severe covid-19 and leptospirosis. Both diseases contributed to her death.

“She was not vaccinated as she was not in the target population of people 18 years and over who are eligible to receive the vaccine.”

Summary of deaths

• A 60-year-old man from Lami near Suva died at home on August 4.
• A 51-year-old woman from Raiwaqa in Suva also died at home on August 4.
• An 85-year-old man from Lautoka was declared dead on arrival by the attending medical officer at the Lautoka Hospital’s Emergency Department.

Dr Fong said this meant that he died at home or on his way to the hospital.

• An 88-year-old man from Sigatoka was declared dead on arrival by the attending medical officer at the Sigatoka Sub Divisional Hospital. This means he died at home or on his way to the hospital.
• An 86-year-old man from Toorak, Suva, presented to the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in severe respiratory distress on August 4. His condition worsened in the hospital and he died on the same day.
• An 85-year-old woman from Tailevu died at home on August 2.
• A 55-year-old man from Tailevu also died at home on the August 2.
• A 70-year-old woman from Tailevu died at home on August 2.
• A 90-year-old man from Raiwai died at home on August 5.
• An 85-year-old man from Naitasiri died at home on August 5.

Four other people who tested positive to covid-19 have died, however Dr Fong said their deaths were caused by serious pre-existing medical conditions and not covid.

He said a total of 146 covid-positive people had died but their deaths were classified as caused by the virus.

311 covid patients in hospital
“There are 311 covid-19 patients admitted to hospital, 63 of them are at Lautoka, 78 patients are admitted at the FEMAT field hospital, and 170 at Suva’s CWM, St Giles and Makoi hospitals. 48 patients are in severe condition, with six in critical condition.”

Almost 6000 people were screened and 636 swabbed at the clinics in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 411,142 individuals screened and 73,893 swabbed to date.

Dr Fong said as of August 4, the ministry’s teams had screened a total of 1928 individuals and swabbed 91 others.

“This brings our cumulative total to 776,034 individuals screened and 68,462 swabbed by our mobile teams,” he said.

“A total of 287,237 samples have been tested since this outbreak started in April 2021, with 330,098 tested since March 2020. 3352 tests have been reported for August 3.”

Dr Fong said the daily test average was 3401 per day or 3.8 tests per 1000 population. The national daily test positivity was 32.4 percent, almost seven times the World Health Organisation (WHO) threshold which is five percent.

“As of August 4, 498,680 adults in Fiji have received their first dose of the vaccine and 164,974 have received their second doses. This means that 85 percent of the target population have received at least one dose and 28.1 percent are fully vaccinated nation-wide.

Daily average
“The daily average for new cases is 1156 or 1193 cases per million population per day. Daily case numbers remain high and daily test positivity remains high, indicating ongoing widespread community transmission in the Suva-Nausori containment zone.

“The cases are also increasing in the West with evidence of community transmission in the division.

“We are also recording increasing numbers of people with severe disease, and deaths in the West. The Northern and Eastern Divisions currently have no active cases.”

Dr Fong is urging the public to adhere to the covid-safe protocols including the daily curfew from 6pm-4am.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

A new vaccine may be needed if the delta variant of covid-19, which is currently in Fiji, continues to mutate, health experts say.

The government says more than 22,000 people with covid are in isolation and the death toll has passed 260, and climbing.

The victims included an 11-month-old baby, pregnant mothers, a 15-year-old teenager and a 102-year-old woman.

• READ MORE: Fiji faces 1220 new covid cases, seven deaths as infections still rise
• Other Fiji covid crisis reports

The government maintains there is no need to impose a complete shutdown of the country.

According to the Health Ministry, the average deaths per day is eight, while the daily average infection is 1039 cases or 1174 per million population.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has placed Fiji on level 4 of its covid-alert due to the growing number of cases in the Pacific nation.

Professor Fiona Russell from the University of Melbourne said reports that more people are dying from the virus in Fiji should be a concern.

She said the mutation of the delta strain could happen.

‘Characteristic of all viruses’
“That is a characteristic of all viruses, not just the coronavirus and there are other mutations that have already occurred. At the moment what we’ve found is that the variants have become more transmissible. We have to keep an eye on that and there’s ongoing studies to monitor it. And it may be that in the future, people in Fiji may need a booster.”

Professor Russell also said Fiji’s health facilities could easily get overwhelmed if people do not take heed of covid-safe protocols.

She warned the country was very early on in the outbreak and should take heed of what had happened in countries such as India.

“If covid-19 takes off in Fiji, then the hospitals may get full and that is if you get sick with anything at all, let alone covid, then the doctors and nurses may not be able to treat you properly because they’re just so busy treating all the other covid patients.

“We certainly in Australia were worried about that and so we made plans for that in case that was to occur.”

She praised Fiji’s efforts in trying to contain the disease.

Professor Russell said the seriousness of covid-19 was evident in how quickly it had spread during the second wave in the country.

Government urged to change strategy
New Zealand epidemiologist and University of Otago professor Michael Baker agrees.

He said Fiji was going backwards in its fight against the pandemic.

Despite the Fijian prime minister’s refusal to enforce a national lockdown, Baker said it was not too late for the government to change its strategy.

“The situation in Fiji is very worrying. They’ve really lost control of this epidemic at this point given the record number of infections that are of a very widespread nature.

“It depends what their overall strategy is. If they want to return to elimination position, I think they need to act very decisively now and that actually offers a much better route back to economic recovery than trying to suppress the virus and live with it which hasn’t really worked very well in the past.”

Fijian epidemiologist Dr Donald Wilson said the country was “overwhelmed” by the pandemic.

He warned the current trend of infections could force officials to make “unethical medical decisions”.

“The worry is that when the health system becomes overwhelmed, when it cannot any longer peak in lots of patients who have severe disease, then unfortunately like what has been happening in other countries where doctors have to do the unethical thing of needing to choose who to put on ventilators and who not to.”

Mass vaccination progress
Dr Wilson said a mass vaccination campaign aims to immunise 600,000 Fijians by November this year.

Close to half a million Fijians or 84.4 percent of the target population have received their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, while just over 158,000 or 27 percent have got both jabs.

The head of Fiji’s vaccination taskforce, Dr Rachel Devi, said the only good news is the Moderna vaccine, now in the country, is also effective against the delta variant, the UK variant and the Wuhan strain of the virus.

“We have important strategies in terms of how or when and where we roll this out across the country. This would definitely boost it up especially right now we weren’t vaccinating our pregnant women with the AstraZeneca unless these individuals consented. But I know there’s quite a lot of build-up in that area now. There’s a lot on safety reasons as well.”

Meanwhile, an Australia-based Fijian academic warns Fiji is suffering its worst medical, social and economic crisis since the measles epidemic of 1875 which led to the deaths of a third of the country’s population.

Professor Wadan Narsey said this could have been avoided had the government listened to the best medical advice – not just in Fiji, but also from its major partners New Zealand and Australia.

He said Fiji’s tragedy stems from its heath system being unable to cope with the crisis and has seen deaths soar to more than 260, and climbing.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

The dream of putting a smile on his mother’s face on his graduation day from university has become one that will never happen for Gabriel Gade, after his mother succumbed to the coronavirus that has killed dozens of people in Fiji.

“My ultimate dream was to make her proud of all her sacrifices, battles in life and the love she gave me over the last 21 years of my life,” he told Asia Pacific Report.

“My mother had to work all the time to pay off the mortgage, and I could tell that she was exhausted most of the time, but I think it was her love for her children that kept her going every day.

• READ MORE: Fiji reports 715 new covid-19 cases as death toll passes 200

His mother, Suliana Bulavakarua, worked as a registered nurse at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital (CWMH), the largest healthcare facility in the country, where his family believes she contracted the virus while pregnant.

After she tested positive for covid-19 on July 16, she was transported to the Covid-care facility in Suva, leaving behind Gade and his sister at home as their father was working outside of the mainland.

Her children also tested positive for the virus but have recovered. Gade was vaccinated with the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine while his mother was awaiting the Moderna vaccine that was to be administered to pregnant women.

Her daughter was not eligible for the vaccine as she was under the age of 18.

Her condition worsened
Her condition got worse on July 18 and was advised by attending physicians to deliver her baby by caesarean section.

The 44-year-old gave life to a baby girl but the battle with covid-19 was so intense that it soon ended her life.

“It was late at night on Wednesday [July 21] when my phone rang and I did not answer because it was a new number and it was late as well. However, little did I know the hospital was calling me to inform us of our mother’s passing,” says Gade.

“A team from the hospital knocked on our doors on Thursday morning and relayed the news that broke my sister and I into tears. The world suddenly stopped as I lost the one person I owe everything to.

“My mind ran wild but hours later I had to compose myself for my family, especially my sisters who will now grow up without a mother.

The Lau native said the teachings of his mother was something he would hold dear to his heart and would use in the upbringing of his sisters.

“My mother taught me to be generous, loving and to care for people that needed my help.

“I remember a night where I would do my assignments on my study table in our living room and during her days off she would sit on the couch and then she would try and make small talk.

“My mom and I had this relationship where she would always be pressed to do things like for me to graduate. My mom was always supportive of my endeavours.

“I love you so much mom.”

The “fallen hero” is survived by her husband and three children.

Fiji has recorded 715 cases of Covid-19 and 11 deaths – including an unvaccinated health worker – in the last 24 hours to 8am yesterday. https://t.co/CcvTZsXk1n

— RNZ Pacific (@RNZPacific) July 27, 2021

Healthcare workers remember fallen hero
The loss of Bulavakarua was not only for the family but for healthcare workers around the country as they took to social media to express their feelings.

A nurse posted on Facebook that Bulavakarua was the talk of the operation room at the hospital she worked in as they all reminisced her dedication to saving lives in the country.

Health Secretary Dr James Fong, in a televised address, announced the passing of the healthcare worker and said she was one of the many who risked their lives to save people from the deadly delta variant of the virus.

“This current crisis is demonstrating the essential, tireless, innovative and too-often undervalued role of health workers and our frontline colleagues in ensuring strong, resilient health systems for everyone, everywhere,” he said.

“They work long hours, sacrifice time with their families, and endure the stresses that this pandemic places upon them as individuals, professionals, and upon the entire health system.

“Delivering health services in an environment of constraint resources will often mean providing access to life saving care at the expense of comfort.

Meanwhile, healthcare workers are currently looking after 17,937 people living with the deadly virus in the nation where 195 people have died.

Fiji’s covid-19 case count stands at 24,424 since March 2020 with 6191 recoveries.

Josefa Babitu is a final-year student journalist at the University of the South Pacific (USP). He is also the current student editor for Wansolwara, USP Journalism’s student training newspaper and online publication. He is a contributor to Asia Pacific Report.

Two Fijian pregnant women are among the 21 covid-19 deaths reported within a seven-day period from July 14.

Their babies, however, were saved via a caesarean operation by the obstetric team.

Health Secretary Dr James Fong revealed this in his covid-19 live update last evening as he announced the country’s 1091 positive cases recorded in the last 24 hours that ended at 8am yesterday.

• READ MORE: Nine covid positive cases of among Fiji arrivals to NZ
• Fiji’s covid horror is too late to fix, yet still our leaders stay silent
• Other Fiji covid crisis reports

He said the 21 covid-19 deaths were recorded from July 14-20.

He said both mothers had been unwell with covid symptoms at home before presenting to health facilities in severe respiratory distress.

“In both cases, our physicians made the decision to conduct emergency caesarean operations to rescue the new-borns and assist with the care of the mothers,” Dr Fong said.

“Sadly, despite the best efforts of their attending physicians, both mothers passed away.”

Deaths a tragedy
Dr Fong said maternal deaths at any time were a tragedy and maternal deaths due to covid-19 were a clear indication of the severity of this outbreak.

He said the present outbreak was contained to Viti Levu, and primarily in the Lami-Suva-Nausori corridor.

And over the last week, he added that an increasing number of cases had been reported in the Western Division.

Dr Fong also announced 317 new recoveries with more than 4550 total recoveries from the virus.

“Recovery is possible. In fact, most patients will recover.

“The sooner those most at-risk are identified and treated, the more likely they will be to recover as well. Many of those recoveries will continue to come out of our field hospitals,” he said.

Timoci Vula is a Fiji Times reporter. This article is republished with permission.

Pictures and videos emerging about the shocking and deplorable conditions for covid-isolated patients in Fiji hospitals are no surprise. Nor should they be.

They are a direct consequence of the Bainimarama government’s failure to lead, failure to plan – and worst of all, failure to care.

Two months ago Ministry of Health officials publicly warned us about the dangers of our health system breaking down under the weight of covid numbers.

• READ MORE: Covid-19: Nine cases among Fijians arriving in NZ
• Covid-19 positive cases back to four digits in Fiji
• Tents set up outside Suva hospital
• Other Fiji covid crisis reports

The government refused to listen to advice. It arrogantly refused to lock down.

And now this disaster is upon us.

There is a video circulating about a dead patient being left in a temporary hospital ward for hours. Everyone knows a story about ambulances being called which never turn up.

We hear about a case where a person’s body stayed in a car for five hours in the hospital car park because no one had time or resources to help.

We were warned – by our own officials
Tragically, people affected by non-covid conditions are now dying because they cannot get into hospitals for care.

These were all things we were warned about, by our own health officials.

Up to now the bulk of our cases has been in the Central Division, which is serviced by the best hospitals. As the disease spreads around Viti Levu, the situation will get much worse.

This damage is now too late to fix. These desperate stories will continue.

We all know that deaths from this outbreak will be measured in the hundreds, and the horror of this is just beginning.

And yet, our leaders are silent. They offer no support, no information. They do not want to talk about this crisis because they have difficult questions to answer about their utter failure to lead.

Do your best to protect yourselves
Where were they when their own officials were warning them?

And where are they now?

We plead with people to do their best to protect themselves.

Wear masks, follow the physical distancing rules. Please get vaccinated, if not for yourself for the health and safety of your nearest and dearest around you.

We have a government that cannot lead and which is too ashamed and cowardly to lead.

It is now up to each of us to look after and care for each other until we rid ourselves of this failed leadership in the next elections.

Professor Biman Prasad is the leader of Fiji’s National Federation Party.

Fiji has recorded 1220 new cases of covid-19 as at 8am today — the highest daily record so far — and five more deaths.

Health Secretary Dr James Fong said the five people who had died from the virus were all aged over 60 and were not vaccinated.

He said the first death was a 61-year-old woman from Kinoya who died at home after being sick with generalised body pain, weakness, and sore throat for 10 days.

• READ MORE: Other Fiji covid crisis reports

“The second covid-19 death to report is a 62-year-old man from Tacirua. He presented to the CWM Hospital emergency department in severe respiratory distress,” Dr Fong said.

He died in hospital on the same day (July 13). His family reported that he was unwell with fever, cough, and generalised weakness for three days prior,” he said.

“The third covid-19 death to report is a 66-year-old woman from Nabua who died at home on July 13. Her family reported that she was feeling unwell with a cough and shortness of breath for 3 days.

“The fourth covid-19 death to report is a 60-year-old woman from Verata who died at home on July 13.

Fifth death
“The fifth covid-19 death to report is a 78-year-old woman from Nauluvatu village. She was retrieved from home by a medical team and transferred to a healthcare facility. She was noted to be in severe respiratory distress. She died in the healthcare facility on the same day (July 13).”

The total death count has increased from 69 to 74 since yesterday morning, however, there are eight deaths of covid-19 positive patients that are still under investigation to determine if they had died due to the virus or other medical problems.

There are now 11,033 active cases of people who have been infected with covid-19, either at home or in dedicated facilities around Viti Levu.

Fiji has recorded 13,816 cases of the virus during the outbreak that started in April this year.

Dr Fong said people with severe covid-19 were dying at home or going to a medical facility in the late stages of severe illness.

“Severe covid-19 is a medical emergency, and a delay in receiving appropriate medical treatment reduces your chance of recovering from the disease,” he said.

With 213 people reported to have recovered from the virus, the ministry is more concerned that the daily test positivity rate continues on an upward trend.

Positivity rate 18pc
The country’s daily test positivity rate is at 18 percent — more than three times the World Health Organisation (WHO) threshold of five percent.

This means that there is widespread transmission of the virus.

“Based on available testing numbers, the national 7-day daily test average is 3772 tests per day or 4.3 tests per 1000 population. These numbers are expected to increase once all lab testing number data is received,” Dr Fong said.

“As of July 14, 377,090 adults in Fiji have received their first dose of the vaccine and 73,127 have received their second dose.”

Fiji’s covid-19 case count stands at 13,886 since the first case was reported in March 2020, with 2,748 recoveries.

Josefa Babitu is a final-year student journalist at the University of the South Pacific (USP). He is also the current student editor for Wansolwara, USP Journalism’s student training newspaper and online publication. He is a contributor to Asia Pacific Report.

Fiji health authorities have reported an additional 10 deaths from covid-19 over the past week.

In his daily statement on covid-19 cases, Health Secretary Dr James Fong said there were 634 new cases for the 24 hour period ending at 8am yesterday.

All of the dead were aged from 42 to 90 and nine had not been vaccinated, with the 10th having had one dose of vaccine.

• READ MORE: Other articles about the Fiji covid crisis

Another two deaths of covid positive people are being investigated as they also had pre-existing medical conditions.

There have now been 69 deaths in Fiji from covid 19, 67 of those since the latest outbreak began in April.

Fiji now has 10,033 active cases.

As of Tuesday the government reports that 370,219 people had received their first dose of vaccine and 70,917 had had both doses, meaning just over 12 percent of the population is fully innoculated.

Dr Fong said people are still dying at home or coming into medical facilities in the late stage of severe illness, so reducing the chances of recovery.

Fiji to wear vaccinate jersey
The Fiji rugby team have agreed to wear jerseys supporting covid-19 vaccinations in this weekend’s second test against the All Blacks in Hamilton.

In a statement, Fiji Rugby chief executive John O’Connor said that after “comprehensive and productive discussions” with the Flying Fijian players, the team has agreed to wear the playing jersey featuring the “Vaccinate Fiji” message.

The team were supposed to wear jerseys with the words “Vaccinate Fiji” on the chest in last Saturday’s 57-23 loss to New Zealand in Dunedin, but the idea was ditched because of opposition from some team members.

Flying Fijians coach Vern Cotter said the jersey idea was “sprung” on the players at late notice without the necessary consultation.

“As you can imagine, it’s a delicate subject for some and so it was probably better to just have a clean jersey and then spend some time on how best we want to communicate on this matter and how comfortable the players and everybody are around that communication.”

That discussion has now taken place.

“We have listened to the concerns raised by some members of the squad regarding the message, and the perspective that individuals have different choices when it comes to vaccination,” O’Connor said.

“In turn, we explained FRU’s position and support for the vaccination programme in Fiji, which will help save lives and assist our health authorities in the fight against the Covid-19 outbreak.”

With not all the players fully on board, a compromise was struck.

“The squad has settled on the “Vaccinate Fiji’ jersey, with an additional “It’s Your Choice” message alongside it,” O’Connor explained.

“We thank them for their understanding and participation in this process.”

There will also be “Vaccinate Fiji” signage at the Hamilton game.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

A 15-year-old girl has become Fiji’s youngest death due to the covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, taking the total of deaths due to the virus to 58.

Health Secretary Dr James Fong has confirmed this after an investigation by medical personnel classified the case as another covid-19 death.

The girl from Colo-I-Suva was declared dead on arrival by the attending medical officer at the Raiwaqa Health Centre last week.

• READ MORE: Fiji covid positive cases spike to 873 overnight
• 873 new cases and three more deaths confirmed in Fiji
• Other Fiji covid crisis reports

“This means that she either died at home or on her way to the health facility. Her family reported that she had been feeling unwell for two days,” Dr Fong said.

“Her symptoms included cough, shortness of breath, and chest pain.

“She was not vaccinated — she was not in the target population of people 18 years and over that are eligible to receive the vaccine.”

Two other covid deaths today
Her case was announced along with two other covid-19 deaths in the past day.

“The first covid-19 death we are reporting today is a 56-year-old woman from Vatuwaqa who died at home.

“The second covid-19 death was an 87-year-old woman from Nasinu. She presented to the FEMAT field hospital in severe respiratory distress. Her condition worsened at the FEMAT field hospital and she died two days after admission.

Both these patients were not vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine, donated by New Zealand and Australia, which the Health Ministry is administering to all eligible people around the country.

This brings the total deaths due to the virus to 58, with 56 of these deaths coming during the outbreak that started in April this year.

Separately, there have been 26 covid-19 positive patients who died from serious medical conditions that they had before they contracted the virus. These cases are not classified by the ministry as covid-19 deaths.

New daily record
A total of 9310 people are battling the delta variant of the virus in the country after it recorded a new daily high record of 873 cases ending at 8 am today while 132 recoveries were made.

“The 7-day average of new cases per day is 696 cases per day or 787 cases per million population per day.

With daily increases in cases, the ministry has seen an increase in severe cases of covid-19 and increasing deaths

The ministry has vaccinated 353,355 adults with their first dose of the vaccine and 66,643 have received their second doses as of July 11.

Percentage-wise, this means that 60.2 percent of the target population have received at least one dose and 11.4 percent are now fully vaccinated nationwide.

“With increasing daily cases, hospitalisations, and deaths, we are asking all Fijians to get vaccinated as soon as possible.”

Fiji’s covid-19 cases stand at 11,385 with only 1991 recoveries since March last year.

Josefa Babitu is a final-year student journalist at the University of the South Pacific (USP). He is also the current student editor for Wansolwara, USP Journalism’s student training newspaper and online publication. He is a contributor to Asia Pacific Report.

Fiji’s FEMAT field hospital at Laucala Bay in the capital Suva has begun its transition into a covid-19 dedicated hospital as the country’s health authorities reported 791 new cases and three deaths in the past day.

Health Secretary Dr James Fong highlighted this in his covid-19 update last night.

Dr Fong said the ministry had set up an emergency number 165 for people with severe covid-19 symptoms to contact if they could not get to a hospital themselves.

• READ MORE: COVID-19 Fiji: 42 deaths to date; over 6000 active cases in isolation
• Fiji government ‘useless’, warns Prasad
• Other reports on the Fiji covid crisis

“Sadly, we continue to see people with severe COVID-19 dying at home or coming to a medical facility in the late stages of severe illness and dying within a day or two,” Dr Fong said.

“Severe COVID-19 is a medical emergency and a delay in receiving appropriate medical treatment may result in a higher risk of death,” he said.

Dr Fong said Fijians need to know the severe symptoms of covid-19, which include:

• Difficulty breathing;
• Persistent pain or pressure in the chest;
• Severe headache for a few days;
• New confusion, inability to wake or stay awake; and
• Pale, gray, or blue-coloured skin, lips or nail beds.

“If you or a loved one have any of these symptoms please go immediately to your nearest medical facility or call 165 if unable to get to a medical facility.”

Fiji’s fight against the covid-19 pandemic seems to have no light at the end of the tunnel after the Pacific nation has recorded 636 cases and six deaths in the past day alone.

Yesterday’s number makes 5776 people battling the virus in total while the Health Ministry expects more cases in the coming days.

Fiji, with a population of about 900,000, is fighting the delta variant (originally from India) of the virus that has crippled its healthcare system in just less than four months.

• READ MORE: SODELPA leader blasts PM, Attorney-General over Fiji covid ‘recklessness’
• Covid-19: Six deaths and 636 news cases reported in Fiji
• Fiji mortuary full, public frustration, confusion rife over covid-19
• Fiji reports record 522 new cases of covid-19 – three more deaths
• Sayed-Khaiyum leading Fiji into chaos, says women’s crisis centre leader
• Backgrounder on the delta variant
• Other reports on the Fiji covid crisis

The outbreak began in April at a funeral attended by more than 500 people and among the crowd was the carrier of the virus who worked as a maid in a quarantine facility in Nadi.

In early May, Health Secretary Dr James Fong said the second wave of the virus would be the greatest test of Fiji’s healthcare system that it has ever faced.

“Lives are at stake, sacrifices must be made, and every Fijian’s commitment is needed. The virus is insidious, it is unrelenting. All it takes is one unknown case in our community to spark an explosion of cases across the country,” he said.

He made the comments after two of Fiji’s doctors contracted the virus from a patient who displayed symptoms of the virus but had refused to be tested for covid-19 (he later tested positive), just days after the virus entered local communities.

‘Red flag for widespread transmission’
“From a statistical standpoint, ICU cases –– like the one we now have –– may be a red flag for widespread transmission. Essentially, it tells us that there are likely many more cases of the virus out there,” Dr Fong said.

Fiji has locked down some parts of Viti Levu for more than once as a drastic measure to contain the virus. It also has a 6pm to 4am curfew for the capital Suva and Nausori corridor where the cases are surging and an 8pm to 4am curfew in other parts of the country.

This month, the virus is in the country’s Center for Disease Control, Correction Service, various government ministries including Health, Economy, Agriculture, Defence and even police to name a few.

Some members of the public have called for a “28 days of straight lockdown for the whole of Viti Levu” — Fiji’s main island. However, the government said this would be an economic loss.

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama told Fijians last month: “It is easy to call for a lockdown if you don’t work at a factory that might permanently leave Fiji if they must shut down completely for 28 days; the garment factories and call centres that cannot serve overseas clients will lose those contracts –– and the jobs they support –– forever.

“And businesses, large and small, that thrive because of this economic activity could shut forever as well.

“Our plan is reasonable, it is tolerable and it is built for the long-haul. And we will stick with that plan. Rather than subject the nation to a far more severe socioeconomic situation, we will continue to care for those in-need with the resources we have.”

Average cases increase
In a statement last night, Dr Fong said the seven-day average of new cases per day has increased to 429 cases per day or 485 cases per million population per day.

“We continue to see people with severe COVID-19 dying at home or coming to a medical facility in the late stages of severe illness and dying within a day or two,” he said.

“Severe covid-19 is a medical emergency and a delay in receiving appropriate medical treatment may result in a higher risk of death.

“As expected, with the increasing case numbers we are also seeing increasing numbers of people with severe disease and more deaths in the Suva-Nausori containment zone.

“There have been 31 new recoveries reported since the last update, which means that there are now 5776 active cases in isolation. There have been 7079 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021.”

The country has recorded a total of 7149 cases in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020, with 1,318 recoveries.

The death toll for covid-19 patients has increased to 39 from 33 ending at 8am yesterday.

More cases expected
With more cases expected in the future, Fijians have turned to home remedies as a preventative measure and cure from the deadly virus — one being steam inhalation therapy.

“Steam inhalation therapy (kuvui) is commonly used as a home remedy to provide relief from congested nasal passages, and symptoms of cold or inflamed sinuses, or other mild COVID-19 symptoms,” said Dr Fong.

“However, steam therapy is not a treatment for severe covid-19. Severe cpvid-19 is a medical emergency, and relying completely on home remedies can delay urgent medical treatment.”

Fiji’s only hope in dealing with this outbreak is the AstraZeneca vaccine donated by Australia and New Zealand.

Dr Fong said 324,462 adults in Fiji had received their first dose of the vaccine and 54,737 had received their second doses.

Percentage-wise this means that 55 percent of the target population has received at least one dose and 9.3 percent are now fully vaccinated nationwide.

“Because of vaccines and because we now know more about covid, the world’s fight against this virus has changed, and so must our strategy,” Bainimarama said.

“We will get through this current ordeal by an intelligent and targeted application of measures to contain the spread until we get enough of us vaccinated to achieve herd immunity.”

The only hope right now for Fiji is to vaccinate 80 percent of its population before some restrictions are relaxed.

Josefa Babitu is a final-year student journalist at the University of the South Pacific (USP). He is also the current student editor for Wansolwara, USP Journalism’s student training newspaper and online publication. He is a contributor to Asia Pacific Report.

Fiji’s opposition SODELPA leader Viliame Gavoka has condemned Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama and Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum for their “unimaginable recklessness” over the country’s covid pandemic crisis.

The politicians should know “they are held responsible for every covid-19 death for not listening and not doing what is right,” Gavoka said.

Fiji has reported a record 636 new positive covid-19 cases and six deaths in the last 24-hour period ending at 8am today.

• READ MORE: Covid-19: Six deaths and 636 news cases reported in Fiji
• Fiji mortuary full, public frustration, confusion rife over covid-19
• Fiji reports record 522 new cases of covid-19 – three more deaths
• Sayed-Khaiyum leading Fiji into chaos, says women’s crisis centre leader
• Other reports on the Fiji covid crisis

Gavoka said: “To the Prime Minister and the Attorney-General, this is the message — health first.

“The economy is second and will rebound.

“There is no balancing act between the two, as clearly evident by the disaster we have today.”

Gavoka said “the disastrous situation with covid-19” was because of the “we know best attitude” and the recklessness on the part of the Prime Minister and the Attorney-General.

“The current situation could have been avoided if the Prime Minister and Attorney-General listened to repeated calls for a national lockdown to contain the virus within a zone or border and carry out mass vaccination,” he said.

“Instead, the government decided to allow people to travel through borders bragging about its protocols, recklessly taking huge risks at a time when cases were spiking. The permanent Secretary for Health keeps saying, “when people move, the virus moves”.

Sayed-Khaiyum and Bainimarama did not respond to the statement made by Gavoka after a copy was sent via email yesterday.

Litia Cava is a Fiji Times reporter. This article is republished with permission.

Public frustration over mixed messages from the government is growing in Fiji as covid-19 continues to spread rapidly.

The latest daily update saw another 352 new cases reported yesterday.

The Health Ministry also confirmed three more deaths due to the coronavirus, bringing the toll to 33 – 31 from this latest outbreak that started in April.

• READ MORE: Fiji reports record 522 new cases of covid-19 – three more deaths
• Sayed-Khaiyum leading Fiji into chaos, says women’s crisis centre leader
• Other reports on the Fiji covid crisis

All three were unvaccinated and died at home or on the way to a health centre.

On Sunday, the ministry reported a daily record 522 new cases and three deaths due to covid-19.

Making the situation even more grim, is the main mortuary is full — and people are being told to make immediate plans to farewell their loved ones.

Relatives have to make plans to uplift their deceased family members and arrange funeral rites.

Infected people sent home
With hospitals unable to cope, health authorities have sent many of the people infected with covid back home to isolate – more than 1000 of them.

RNZ Pacific correspondent in Suva, Lice Movono, said people were getting more and more worried.

“There are a lot of fearful people, so much anxiety and continuing distrust of the government, but the government is not coming out to explain itself very well and we haven’t seen our ministers, our Prime Minister, for a very long time now.”

Movono said she had not been out of her house, even to shop, for almost six weeks.

The opposition National Federation Party leader, Professor Biman Prasad, said that meant some were going to multi-generational, crowded households.

“With the increasing number of cases our health systems are giving up. People with other kinds of ilness are being affected. They’re not able to get the treatment they ought to get,” he said.

“People are dying on arrival, or people are dying before they even get to the hospitals.”

Government urged to seek foreign help
The deteriorating situation in the country is failing to sway Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama from his no-lockdown stance.

In a bid to save the economy, the government is allowing some businesses to stay operational.

So while Fiji’s Health Secretary is advising the public to stay at home, the Trade Minister is talking about retail businesses, restaurants and gymnasiums staying open as long as safety measures are followed.

Dr Biman Prasad, a professor of economics, says the government’s mixed messages, and “business as usual” approach, has caused a disaster.

“The situation is going to get worse and it is not too late for this government to change its strategy, to stop being arrogant about what they have decided before.

“If you look at the numbers, which have risen exponentially, it’s only happened after the prime minister made the decision to open up the containment zones.”

Dr Prasad is urging the government to request help from Australia and New Zealand in implementing a nationwide lockdown.

He said that if the expense of catering for people in a lockdown was too much for Fiji, help must be sought.

“Let’s ask Australia and New Zealand for help,” he said.

The government has not responded to requests for comment.

There are more than 600 areas of interest in the central division with one zone in the western division.

More than 5000 people have been in isolation since the latest outbreak in April.

Fifteen covid-positive patients have died from the serious medical conditions they had before they contracted the virus, the Health Ministry said.

Workers forced to show up amid outbreak
Meanwhile, some Fijian workers have been forced to continue going to work despite the rapid spread of the virus in the wider community.

A retail worker in Suva, who did not want his name used, said he still had to go to work, on reduced hours.

The father-of-five added it was critical that he earned money to feed his family, even though community transmission was rife.

“Numbers going up. Yesterday it was 500 (cases). Numbers keep going up but I don’t know what this f***ing government is doing. They’re not doing any nationwide (lockdown) We’re having a lot of pressure, you know, our families, no food. A lot of things, man.”

The father-of-five said safety measures were being followed at his work.

However public adherence to the safety measures remained mixed.

This is not helped by slow communication from authorities over which areas have been designated red zones, according to Allen Lockington, a social worker in Lautoka who delivers food to families in need in informal settlements.

“We just deliver the food, and people say, ‘we’ve been locked down’. We try to get out of there as fast as possible,” he explained.

“The other thing: when we go to the informal settlements, and we see the people walking around with no masks and in groups, 10 or 20 all clustered together. And if someone should be sick there, no doubt it will spread like wildfire.”

If there is a ray of hope for Fiji, it is that the vaccination rollout is progressing swiftly — more than half of the eligible population have had at least a first jab of Astrazeneca, while around 50,000 people are fully innoculated.

But the delta variant of covid-19 is moving rapidly through Fiji, and calls for the government to exert some control on the spread of the virus by calling a nationwide lockdown are growing.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Fiji has reported 522 new cases of covid-19 in the last 24 hours – a record number of daily cases.

The Fiji government has also confirmed three more deaths due to the coronavirus, bringing the toll to 30.

The Health Ministry said that all three were unvaccinated and had died at home or on the way to a health centre.

• READ MORE: Sayed-Khaiyum leading Fiji into chaos, says women’s crisis centre leader
• Other reports on the Fiji covid crisis

Two of the deaths had previously been under investigation to determine if the cause was covid-19.

A fourth under investigation has been found to be caused by a pre-existing illness.

There have now been 30 deaths due to covid-19 in Fiji, with 28 of these deaths during the outbreak that started in April this year.

The ministry issued an official reminder that home therapy was not the right remedy for the coronavirus.

Battled conspiracy theories
As health authorities record 6091 cases since the delta variant outbreak began in mid-April, the country has battled conspiracy theories, alternative treatments and vaccine reluctance.

“Steam therapy and drinking hot water are not the treatment for covid-19 and it does not protect one from contracting covid-19,” a government statement said.

“Inhaling steam (kuvui) and keeping hydrated with warm drinks are commonly used as home therapy to provide relief from a congested nasal passage, and short term instant relief from symptoms of cold or inflamed sinuses.

“They should not be taken as a treatment or protection from covid-19 infection.”

The ministry said getting vaccinated and practising hygiene measures such as wearing a mask when people left home, washing hands frequently or hand sanitising, covering the mouth while coughing or sneezing and social distancing remained the best ways to stay protected against the pandemic.

The measures also helped to stop the transmission of the virus from one person to another.

In addition, the government has also reminded those who have been told to quarantine at home because they have come into contact with someone who is positive that they should do so for as long as they have been told to.

Three deaths reported
Health Secretary Dr James Fong said the three deaths reported today, a 93-year-old woman, a man, 60, and a 56-year-old woman, all from Lami, were unvaccinated and either died at home or on the way to hospital.

Eight people who have died as a result of covid-19 in just over a month either died at home or on their way to hospital, prompting calls from the government urging people to get to health facilities once they experience covid-19 symptoms.

“As expected, with the increasing cases numbers we are also seeing increasing numbers of people with severe disease, and more deaths in the Suva-Nausori containment zone. It remains a serious concern that some people with severe disease come to a medical facility only in the late stages of their illness,” Dr Fong said.

“And we are still sadly seeing people with severe disease die at home or on the way to hospital, before our medical teams have a chance to administer what could potentially be life saving treatment.”

Fijian health authorities are running an average of 3144 tests per day and 10.4 percent of those are positive.

Meanwhile, 317,461 adults have received their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine and 52,001 have received their second dose. Health authorities still have to reach 91.1 percent of the 650,000 target population.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

The Fiji Civil Society Organisation Alliance for COVID-19 Humanitarian Response has repeated a call for the resignation of the country’s Economy Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.

The alliance claims that he is taking the country into chaos and says it is deeply concerned about lives being unnecessarily lost as a result of the pandemic crisis.

The call comes as Fiji has reported a record 522 new cases of covid-19 and three virus deaths for the 24-hour period ending at 8am today.

• READ MORE: Fiji records 522 new covid-19 cases and three more deaths

Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre co-ordinator and human rights activist Shamima Ali said the government had full authority to conduct a nationwide lockdown to minimise the impact of the virus.

“While it is the people’s responsibility, the authority lies with the government,” she said.

The government had full authority to lockdown and to regulate and also had the resources to call these things.

“And so they must take the bigger bit of the responsibility,” she said.

‘You must step down’
“And so I am asking the Minister for Economy to do the honourable thing and resign.

You must step down because you are taking this country into chaos and you know if we are not careful, a lot more of our people are going to die unnecessarily.”

Questions emailed to Attorney-General and Economy Minister Sayed-Khaiyum yesterday about the comments made by the CSO Alliance remain unanswered.

The alliance also said Fijians were confused with the mixed messages from government.

It questioned the recent announcement by Commerce, Trade, Tourism and Transport Minister Faiyaz Koya to reopen restaurants, food courts, and gyms on Viti Levu.

Ali said it appeared the government was prioritising the need to keep the economy afloat rather than the lives of people.

“We have a very small population,” she said.

‘What are we waiting for?’
“What are we waiting for? Half a million of us to die before we are going to wake up to the reality of what is happening?

“There seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel, nothing is under control.”

Ali said the call for covid-19 patients to safely isolate themselves at home was also an issue of concern.

“We are telling them to self-isolate at home. What are we telling them?

“Do we have a set of guidelines?”

Health Secretary Dr James Fong said the Ministry of Health had a protocol to support this “but we are also working with CSOs and other government ministries to increase the capacity for facility-based isolation”.

A full breakdown of areas of interest has been published online on the Ministry of Health and Medical Service’s covid-19 dashboard and on the Fiji Government Facebook page.

Approximate locations of cases are at this link: http://bit.ly/3vE2ZBb

Litia Cava is a Fiji Times reporter. This article is republished with permission.

Fiji has recorded another 404 new cases of covid-19 and five deaths in the 24 hours to 8am on Friday.

Most of the new cases are from the western and central division where the capital Suva is located, according to the Health Ministry.

Health Secretary Dr James Fong said two of the latest cases were detected at a quarantine facility in the northern port of Malau on Vanua Levu, the second largest island.

• READ MORE: Fiji government accused of ‘losing the plot’ as covid cases soar past 400 – 2 deaths
• Other Fiji covid crisis reports

He said the pair were repatriates from the Central Division and are now in isolation.

Of the five deaths, one was certified to have been caused by covid-19, one caused by other illnesses while three are being investigated.

One of those who died was a 72-year-old woman from Kinoya, near Suva, who was presented to the FEMAT field hospital with severe respiratory distress.

“She had been sick at home with cough, fever and shortness of breath for at least five days before coming to the hospital. She died at the hospital that same day. She was not vaccinated,” Dr Fong said.

Twenty-five people have so far died from covid-19 in Fiji since March 2020, 23 of them since May 5 while 12 other covid-positive patients had died from other conditions that they had.

There are now 4243 positive people in isolation, 5183 cases since the delta variant outbreak started in April 2021. Since March 2020, Fiji has recorded 5253 cases with 970 recoveries.

Dr Fong said a full breakdown of areas of interest has been published online on the ministry’s covid-19 dashboard and on the Fiji government Facebook page. The approximate locations of the new cases are also at this link: http://bit.ly/3vE2ZBb

NFP slams goverment strategy
The government has “completely lost the plot and meekly surrendered its innocent citizens to the throes of a deadly pandemic”, said the opposition National Federation Party leader Biman Prasad.

In a statement, he said two ministries – Health and Trade – had contradicted each other in terms of the government’s mitigation strategy to tackle covid-19 in Fiji.

Dr Prasad, who is a professor in economics, said Dr Fong had repeatedly emphasised the need for people to stay at home and only move around for essential services like purchasing food, medicine, seeking medical treatment or exercise.

“But the Trade Minister Faiyaz Koya has revealed they are looking at reopening not only retail businesses but allowing restaurants, food courts and gymnasiums to be fully operational under ‘covid-safe’ measures,” the NFP leader said.

“This is the height of incompetency in a government whose leader has said in Parliament that ‘nobody gives a damn’ when asked by NFP parliamentarians to reset their moral compass and show leadership.”

Dr Prasad said the opposition would continue to call for the government to change its strategy.

Positivity rate up
Meanwhile, the country’s daily test positivity rate is now at 9.5 percent and continues on an upward trend. The World Health Organisation (WHO) threshold is at 5 percent.

However, Dr Fong said the ministry’s vaccination campaign continued to gain ground with 309,293 adults (53 percent) now inoculated with the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine and 49,876 had received their second doses.

“The ministry repeats its advice that Fijians take the necessary steps to protect themselves until an adequate number of people are protected through vaccination.

“Fijians also need to be particularly vigilant in protecting people who are most vulnerable to severe infection including the elderly, people with weakened or compromised immune systems, and people suffering from other serious conditions.”

Fiji facts

• 25 deaths due to covid-19 in Fiji (since March 2020), 23 of these deaths were during the outbreak that started in April this year.
• 12 positive patients who died from conditions that they had before they contracted the virus.
• 52 new recoveries reported since the last update.
• 4243 active cases in isolation.
• 5183 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021.
• 5253 cases in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020, with 970 recoveries.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Four more people have died as Fiji recorded 312 new covid-19 cases in the 24 hours ending at 8am yesterday.

The Health Ministry said 295 cases were from the Lami-Suva-Nausori containment zone, while 17 were from the western division.

There are now 3306 active cases in isolation with 21 deaths reported since March 2020 – 19 from this latest outbreak in April this year.

• READ MORE: PNG, Fiji situation ‘going backwards’ over covid, warns NZ health expert
• Other Fiji covid crisis reports

Fiji’s Health Secretary Dr James Fong said four cases were from the existing containment zones of Tramline and Qima Settlement in Nadi.

He said one was a corrections officer from Suva undergoing quarantine at the Tavua Prison compound as part of the essential movement from the red zone to the green zone when they tested positive.

This is similar to the prison officers who had tested positive on Monday in Rakiraki.

The second case in Tavua lives at the Public Works Department quarters and his source of transmission is under investigation.

Four new Lovu cases
“There are four new cases from Lovu, Lautoka, with unknown sources of transmission. Seven contacts of these Lovu cases have also tested positive.

Dr Fong said out of the 295 cases in the Lami-Suva-Nausori containment zone, 165 were from existing areas of interest and 10 from new clusters: Cost U Less supermarket, Golden Manufacturers, and the Kidney Foundation of Fiji.

“The remaining cases are contacts of known cases, cases that were seen in screening clinics and were swabbed, and cases under investigation to determine possible sources of transmission.”

According to Dr Fong, the four deaths were two women and two men, all in the capital Suva – none of them had been fully vaccinated against covid-19.

A 68-year-old man from Toorak was admitted to the Colonial War Memorial Hospital (CWMH) after presenting to the FEMAT field hospital on June 24 in severe respiratory distress. He tested positive for covid and died on Monday in the intensive care unit.

The man’s doctors had determined his death was caused by the coronavirus, Dr Fong said. He was not vaccinated.

The 39-year-old woman from Knolly St had tested positive and was admitted to CWM Hospital after having severe symptoms of covid-19 at home including shortness of breath.

Not fully vaccinated
She died on Monday in the intensive care unit, and her doctors had determined that her death was caused by covid-19, Dr Fong said, adding that the woman had received her first dose of the vaccine this month but was not fully vaccinated.

A 70-year-old man from Veisari in Lami was in respiratory distress and died at the Raiwaqa Health Centre on Monday night.

“According to protocol, he was swabbed and tested positive. His doctors have determined that his death was caused by Covid-19. He was not vaccinated,” Dr Fong said.

The other death was an 82-year-old woman of Qauia in Lami that was previously under investigation to determine if covid-19 was the cause of death.

“She had pre-existing medical conditions, was bedridden, and died at home. According to protocol, she was swabbed and tested positive for covid-19.

“She was declared dead by the attending medical officer and after investigation it has been determined that the cause of death was covid-19. Other members of her household have also tested positive. She was not vaccinated.”

A 54-year-old male, who tested positive for the virus at the CWM Hospital, was admitted for a severe pre-existing non-covid illness.

Dr Fong said his doctors had determined that he had died due to that illness and not from covid-19. He was not vaccinated.

Fiji’s government, which has ruled out imposing a national lockdown, is prioritising vaccination in its response to the outbreak.

Around a third of Fiji’s population of 900,000 have had at least a first dose of a covid-19 vaccine.

Quick facts

• 312 new confirmed covid-19 cases
• 17 cases in the Western Division
• 295 cases in the Lami-Suva-Nausori containment area
• 21 reported deaths due to covid-19 in Fiji
• 19 of those deaths were recorded during the outbreak that started in April 2021
• Nine covid-19 positive patients died from pre-existing non-covid related illnesses that they had been receiving treatment for at the CWM Hospital
• Since the last update, 29 new recoveries have been reported
• A total of 3306 people are active cases in isolation
• There have been 4074 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021
• Fiji has recorded a total of 4144 cases since the first case was reported in March 2020, with 808 recoveries.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Fiji has reported 241 new cases of covid-19 infections and one death in the 24-hour period ending at 8am yesterday.

Health Secretary Dr James Fong said 5 cases were prison officers from Suva who were undergoing 14 days quarantine at the FSC Compound in Rakiraki as part of essential movement from red zone to green zone when they tested positive.

The remaining cases were from the Lami-Suva-Nausori containment zone.

• READ MORE: Other Fiji covid crisis reports

He said there were 106 cases from existing areas of interest, and 17 from the following new areas of interest:

• Fiji Times
• Food City Suva
• Matanisivoro Settlement
• National Kidney Centre-Nadera
• Suva City Council, and
• Tamavua-i-Wai.

“The remaining cases are contacts of known cases, cases that were seen in screening clinics and were swabbed, and cases under investigation to determine possible sources of transmission,” Dr Fong said in his covid-19 update last evening.

He said the new covid-19 death was a 50-year-old man from Newtown – believed to have died at home and was declared dead on arrival by doctors at the Valelevu Health Centre.

“He was reported to be in severe respiratory distress before death. According to protocol, he was swabbed at the health centre, and tested positive. His death has been classified as a covid-19 death by the doctors at the health centre,” Dr Fong said.

“He had received the first dose of the vaccine early this month. He was not fully vaccinated.”

Dr Fong said another death that was previously reported to be under investigation had also now been classified by doctors as as a covid-19 death.

He said the 62-year-old man from Grantham Rd had presented to the FEMAT field hospital in respiratory distress and died on the same day.

“He had been having respiratory symptoms, including shortness of breath, for at least a week before presenting to FEMAT.

“According to protocol, he was swabbed and tested positive for covid-19. He was not vaccinated.”

Church warns pastors on vaccine messages
Meanwhile, The Fiji Times reports that the Methodist Church has warned its leaders that it would take action against those influencing church members not to get vaccinated.

Speaking during a virtual meeting regarding the church’s stand on covid-19 on Thursday, the church’s general secretary, the Rev Iliesa Naivalu has reminded pastors that they were answerable to the church.

Naivalu has also called on them to refrain from circulating baseless videos being circulated on social media.

Naivalu reminded pastors that they had a duty to preach about goodness and life to those under their charge.

Timoci Vula is a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.

Six teenagers were among 56 people arrested by Fiji police in the past 24 hrs for failure to comply with curfew orders.

Acting Commissioner of Police Rusiate Tudtavu said the Southern Division recorded 29 arrests, 16 of them for social gathering while the remaining 13 were for loitering during curfew hours.

He said out of the 13 arrests, five were teenagers ranging from 14 to 17 years.

• READ MORE: Fiji covid-19: 262 more cases, 7.4% positivity rate
• Fiji covid-19 death toll still climbs – woman dies at 34 as crisis grows

‘In the Eastern Division a total of 10 arrests were made and all were alcohol related,” Acting Commissioner Tudravu said.

“Five people were arrested at Vuci and three at Naduri Road Nausori for drinking alcohol while two were arrested for being drunk and loitering during curfew hours,” he said.

The acting commissioner said 17 people had been arrested in the Western Division.

He said six reports were recorded in Rakiraki for drinking liquor and those arrested included a 17-year-old youth.

‘Drunk and loitering’
“Three people were arrested in Ba for being drunk and loitering during curfew hours,” he said.

“In Nadi, a 24-year-old was arrested for being drunk and incapable at Valenimasima while a 65-year-old farmer was arrested as he was driving without any pass during curfew hours.

“Five people were arrested for social gathering as they were drinking liquor along the Namoli seawall in Lautoka.

“The arrest of the six juveniles is worrying and we are again urging parents and guardians to be vigilant and aware of your children’s activities.

“Children need constant guidance so they are not caught up in regrettable situations that could tarnish their future.”

262 new covid cases
Meanwhile, Fiji recorded 262 new cases of covid-19 in the 24-hour period ending at 8am today with 43 cases from six new areas of interest, The Fiji Times reports.

Health Secretary Dr James Fong said in his covid-19 Delta variant update this afternoon that five cases were known contacts of cases from the Nawakalevu containment zone that had been undergoing 14-day quarantine in Nadi facilities.

He said three were contacts from within the existing Korovou cluster, while the remaining 254 cases were from the Lami-Suva-Nausori containment zone.

Dr Fong said 113 cases were from existing areas of interest in this zone, and 43 were from the following new areas of interest:

• Jittu Estate
• MV Liohona Shipping
• Milverton Rd
• Natogadravu
• Waikete Village
• Nauluvatu Village

RNZ Pacific reports that a total of 3521 cases had been recorded since the April 2021 outbreak.

Fiji’s positivity rate, now 7.4 percent, continues to climb further up from 5 percent, which according to the World Health Organisation’s criteria published in May 2020, means the epidemic is not under control.

Talebula Kate is a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.

Three more people with covid-19 have died in Fiji in the last 24 hours — one of them the youngest patient since the pandemic reached the country in March 2020.

There have been 14 deaths from covid-19 and 12 were from this outbreak alone while 8 covid-19 positive patients have died from pre-existing illnesses.

Fiji’s total case count of the current outbreak of the Delta variant of covid, which began in mid-April, now stands at 2363 after another 215 cases were recorded between 8pm Thursday and 8am Friday morning.

• READ MORE: Prime Minister urges Fijians to get vaccinated – FBC News
• Fiji government must give ‘critical’ covid-19 crisis timeline, says lawyer
• Other Fiji covid crisis reports

Fiji’s test positivity ratio is now 6.3 percent.

Health Secretary Dr James Fong announced there had now been 3063 cases since March 2020 and 2993 of these was from the last eight weeks alone.

Two of today’s deaths were of covid positive patients who were under investigation to determine if covid-19 was the main cause, or if it was accelerated death.

However, the latest to die from covid was a 34-year-old woman from Nadawa, a suburb 10km outside of Suva who was declared dead on arrival at the Emergency Department at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital (CWMH).

No pre-existing medical conditions
The woman had no known pre-existing medical conditions and had not been vaccinated.

Only three of today’s new cases are from outside of the Central Eastern division, two cases are from the district of Nawaka in Nadi, and one is a nurse at the Natabua Quarantine Facility in Lautoka.

The remaining 212 cases are from the capital Suva and adjacent towns Lami, Nasinu and Nausori.

While there are 101 cases from existing clusters, 18 cases are from new areas — the Flour Mills of Fiji, a large manufacturer of food items; New World Supermarket in Nasinu; the Police Medical unit in Suva; and the Our Lady of Nazareth home for retired nuns in Wailoku, outside Suva.

“The 7-day average of new cases per day has increased to 203 cases per day or 230 cases per million population per day. Our daily testing numbers have remained at a high level, and yet our test positivity continues to increase,” Dr Fong said.

“All the evidence is that there is widespread community transmission in the Lami-Suva-Nausori containment zone.”

There are also clusters in Naitasiri and one cluster in Korovou. There continue to be cases reported in Nadi, but so far they are from within the containment zone in the Nawajikuma, Nawakalevu, and Tramline containment area.

“The remaining cases are contacts of known cases, cases that were seen in screening clinics and were swabbed, and cases under investigation to determine possible sources of transmission.”

Meanwhile, the MOH has administered first doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to 46 percent of Fiji’s adults, which is 272,354 people, and 6.5 percent, or 38,031 people, are now fully vaccinated.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

The Fiji government and other health experts must give the country a covid-19 crisis timeline, says prominent lawyer Richard Naidu.

He said they must provide some indication of how bad the pandemic would get and when they believed things would improve.

Naidu said this was imperative because the future of Fiji was dependent on the information.

• READ MORE: It’s too early for Covid-19 to be endemic: Fiji Govt
• Other Fiji covid crisis reports

“Businesses need to budget ahead,” he said.

“Many employers want to spread their remaining cash to help their workers.

“But they don’t know how long they will have to do it.

“Welfare organisations need to plan their future support for people who have been kept away from their work and have no income.

Schools need to plan
“Schools and parents need to plan for how long students will not be in class.

“Health professionals and family members need to plan for how to look after chronically ill people without access to normal health care.”

Naidu said the Fijian people needed a best case and worst-case scenario.

“And, of course, we need to know whose assessments they are,” he said.

“The government’s experts may say one thing.

“Other experts may take a different view.

“We need to weigh the credibility of the information we are given.”

Real-time information
Naidu said getting real-time information from the Health Ministry was critical to decision-making “but equally important are projections for the next three-month and six-month periods”.

He said Fijians needed to understand the possible number of cases the country would face and where they would peak.

“We also need to understand when those numbers will begin to decline and when we will return to some level of community safety.”

Health Secretary Dr James Fong did not respond to the concerns raised by Naidu.

RNZ News reports that the Fiji government has announced that it was too early to say if the coronavirus would be an endemic disease in the country.

This comes amid 12 deaths and more than 2000 infections recorded since the latest outbreak started in April. Prior to this, there were two deaths and 70 cases in March 2020.

Felix Chaudhary is a Fiji Times reporter. This article is republished with permission.

Fiji could face around 600 covid-19 deaths within about eight weeks, and 50,000 active cases, unless decisive government-led action is taken quickly on controlling the epidemic.

Diplomatic sources have told Pacific Newsroom that increasing alarm in Australia and New Zealand has prompted their Suva diplomats to urge Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama to institute a month-long hard lockdown across Fiji.

He and his associate, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, are refusing, claiming it will inflict severe economic damage.

• READ MORE: ‘It’s a killer’ – 279 cases and four deaths
• Covid infections in Fiji soar with record 279 cases – four deaths
• Civil unrest and political instability threaten Fiji as covid-19 outbreak takes hold
• Other Fiji covid pandemic crisis reports

But that may be happening anyway and international aid bodies are quietly preparing for food shipments into Fiji, akin to cyclone relief.

The looming covid disaster could be the largest public health crisis since the New Zealand ship Talune introduced H1N1 influenza into Suva in 1918, resulting in around 9000 deaths in a month or six percent of the population.

Global models
Since April 10, when covid Delta arrived in Fiji from India, via Singapore, its growth track has followed the global models.

Government leaders knew what was coming, as Fiji’s Medical Services’ Head of Health Protection, Dr Aalisha Sahukhan, spelt out on June 23: “Today we have reported a record number of cases, and this has been happening regularly over the last week.

“And the daily case numbers will only increase. What we warned would happen when this outbreak started around two months ago is happening.”

The comment plainly implies that the mathematical warnings were not listened to.

She was speaking as they reported 279 new cases of covid, taking the number of active cases to 2479.

Active cases are, data shows, doubling every seven to eight days.

The existing numbers, combined with the global experience, point to Fiji in early August having had 600 deaths and over 50,000 active cases.

When speaking on Wednesday, Sahukhan said there had been 13 deaths due to covid-19 in Fiji, with 11 of these deaths during the outbreak that started in April.

Infection rate
She noted that the daily test positivity rate in Fiji had reached 4.9 percent. This rate measures the number of positive covid results for every 100 tests.

It shows how well a country is testing and, taken with the number of confirmed cases, aids in understanding community spread.

“We are just 0.1 percent below the 5 percent [World Health Organisation] threshold that indicates widespread community transmission,” she said.

Dr Sahukhan said Fiji authorities were working on mathematical modelling to project how big the epidemic would be.

“India at the peak of the outbreak that happened in May went to 280 cases per million population per day, the United Kingdom at the peak of their outbreak was at over 800 per million population per day,” she said.

“Right now we are at 187 cases per million population per day, which is 166 cases per day.

“If our daily cases rise to a peak similar to the UK, we should expect approximately 700 cases per day at a 7-day average.”

She said they had to worry about the severe cases that required hospitalisation and deaths.

“As the cases have risen, it has largely overwhelmed our contact tracing capacity in the Lami-Suva-Nausori zone.

“This has happened in every other country that has faced this number of cases relative to their population.”

Next wave
What comes next, the next wave, was most concerning.

“The wave of people with severe illness requiring hospitalisation and the deaths that will come with it,” she said.

“We have just started to see the beginning of that wave now.”

The wave would crash on to medical facilities.

“Our hospitals are not overwhelmed.”

But as they fill with covid patients, other sick people would not get care.

“We have seen this happen in other countries.”

Behind the scenes Fiji’s problem is being made worse by the appalling rates in frontline workers.

Nearly half of the Navy now has covid, for example. Large clusters are occurring among police stations and units.

Many frontline workers are known to be wearing their protective gear wrongly, and many believe their first dose of vaccine is offering protection from covid when it is not.

Fiji data follows others
Statistical data seen by government officials and Pacific Newsroom are showing that Fiji’s covid growth is accurately following pathways set by other countries. For local Fiji reasons — from villages spread on Viti Levu to island scattering — the situation may be worse.

These factors, Fiji officials are being told, is also why covid will not achieve vaccine inspired herd immunity in Fiji.

Population density could leave Fiji with chronic covid for years to come.

Making matters worse is the way covid has forced the closure of facilities at various times.

These include the Colonial War Memorial Hospital (CWMH), the Queen Elizabeth Barracks (which was providing frontline troops), naval vessels and the Ministry of Health Incident Management Team and warehouse.

Other hospitals and health centres hit include those at Valelevu, Raiwaqa, Makoi, Kamikamica and Nadi.

Republished from The Pacific Newsroom with permission.

Fiji has reported its highest daily total of positive covid-19 infections with 279 cases reported as of 8am today as the outbreak continues to soar.

The ministry has also reported four deaths attributed to the virus.

Health Secretary Dr James Fong announced these figures in the covid-19 update this evening.

• READ MORE: Fiji records two covid deaths amid record 180 new cases
• Medics arrive in Fiji to help with covid – $10m support from NZ
• Civil unrest and political instability threaten Fiji as COVID-19 outbreak takes hold
• Possible lockdown in NZ capital being considered – Bloomfield
• 166 more covid cases in Fiji as community spread ‘broadens’
• Other Fiji covid pandemic crisis reports

He said of those cases, 46 are from existing containment zones or quarantine facilities in Nadi.

That includes 22 from Nawajikuma, 8 from Tramline, and 16 are close contacts in quarantine facilities.

He said the remaining 233 cases are from the Lami-Nausori Containment Zone, and 196 cases of which are from existing areas of concern.

“That means they are either from known clusters or they have a potential link to an existing case,” Dr Fong said.

“All 279 of these new patients are currently in isolation at home or in a facility.”

Details on four deaths
For the four deaths, Dr Fong said the first two deaths were announced yesterday as being under investigation to determine if they were caused by covid-19.

He said the first was a 57-year-old male who was admitted to the Colonial War Memorial Hospital (CWMH) for a pre-existing non-covid medical condition, and he tested positive during his admission.

“The second was a 66-year-old female who was declared dead on arrival to the emergency department at CWM Hospital. In accordance with protocol, she was swabbed, and tested positive for covid-19.

“Their doctors have now confirmed that covid-19 caused the deaths of both these individuals,” Dr Fong said.

The third death, he said was a 62-year-old male from Nausori who was referred to the CWM Hospital yesterday from Nausori Health Centre in severe respiratory distress.

“He had obvious signs and symptoms of severe covid-19 and he tested positive later in the day.

“Despite the efforts of the medical team at CWM Hospital, he died late yesterday afternoon.

Fourth death
“The fourth death is a 77-year-old female who had been admitted at CWM Hospital for a pre-existing non-covid medical condition.

“She tested positive during her admission and died today. Her doctors have confirmed that she died due to covid-19.”

Dr Fong said there were nine other patients admitted at CWM Hospital with severe cases of covid-19, and one of those patients was a 30-year-old with no pre-existing illness.

Republished from The Fiji Times with permission.

Fiji’s covid19 case count broke records again yesterday as medical authorities recorded another two deaths at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital (CWM) in the capital Suva.

Two men, a 68-year-old and a 42-year-old are the latest certified covid deaths.

The CWM Hospital is investigating another two covid-positive deaths – a 57-year-old man who had other conditions and a 66-year-old woman who was pronounced dead on arrival but who tested positive for covid-19.

• READ MORE: Medics arrive in Fiji to help with covid – $10m support from NZ
• Civil unrest and political instability threaten Fiji as COVID-19 outbreak takes hold
• Possible lockdown in NZ capital being considered – Bloomfield
• 166 more covid cases in Fiji as community spread ‘broadens’
• Other Fiji covid pandemic crisis reports

There have now been nine covid-19 deaths in Fiji, two from 2020 and seven since this outbreak of the Delta Variant began in mid April.

Eight covid-19 positive deaths from CWM Hospital have been attributed to other illnesses.

Of the new cases reported, increases have been mostly from the Central Eastern division towns of Lami, Nasinu and Nausori adjacent to the capital Suva with cases in neighbourhoods previously covid-free as well as increases to previously known clusters.

Concerning trends include two more cases from Lautoka City which had been covid free for more than a month. On Denarau Island in Nadi, there are new cases in hotels where frontliner screening teams have been accommodated and off duty medics from Suva’s CWMH have served their post-shift quarantine.

100+ cases a day
Fiji hit the 100 cases a day mark on June 13 and, according to Health Secretary Dr James Fong, the country’s national 7-day average daily test positivity rate sits at 4.4 percent and is increasing.

The positivity rate is a measure of positive results against the total of all tests conducted and high can mean infection is moving fast through a community or that there isn’t enough testing.

However, with Fiji’s testing capabilities boosted in recent weeks, the latest of which was through the donation of new equipment from the New Zealand government, the Fiji Head of Health Protection, Dr Aalisha SahuKhan, confirms enough tests are being conducted in the country.

An Australian traveller from Sydney, who visited Wellington from 19-21 June, has tested positive for COVID-19 upon their return to Australia. Based on their symptom onset and CT score it is most likely they contracted the virus in Sydney prior to their visit to New Zealand.

— Unite against COVID-19 (@covid19nz) June 22, 2021

The World Health Organisation considers 5 percent to be high. Elsewhere in the world, regions have had to maintain a below 5 percent positivity rate for 14 days before public health restrictions can reopen.

Screening clinics in 56 centres operate throughout Fiji with 5998 people screened and 933 swabbed in the last reporting period up till 8am Tuesday.

With an extra 50,000 AstraZeneca vaccines donated by the Australian government earlier in the week, the MOH has managed to administer one dose to 256,117 people which is 44 percent of its over 18-year-olds. A total of 18,000 of those people are now fully-vaccinated. The government has in total deployed 274,124 doses.

In the reporting period announced last night, 86 patients have recovered so Fiji has 1631 active cases in isolation. There have been 2200 cases since April 2021 alone and 2270 since March 2020.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

The New Zealand government is ramping up its support to Fiji, which is in the grips of a covid-19 pandemic crisis.

Another 126 new cases of the virus were reported in the Pacific nation today.

The New Zealand government is now allocating up to $10 million towards Fiji’s covid-19 response.

• READ MORE: 166 more covid cases in Fiji as community spread ‘broadens’
• Other Fiji covid pandemic crisis reports

In addition, a team of Australian and New Zealand medical specialists have arrived there to help.

Red Cross Covid-19 coordinator Lauren Bird, who is based in Suva, said many people felt back in April there was light at the end of the tunnel.

But she said this recent outbreak had reset the clock.

The bulk of cases were in the Suva-Nausori corridor, where about a third of the population is based, Bird said.

Community transmission big concern
“The community transmission is a big concern and this is also happening on the back of Fiji already suffering with the borders closed for the year, people had already lost income of livelihoods.”

RNZ Pacific correspondent Lice Movono, who is in Suva, said the Fijian government was reluctant to go into a national lockdown.

“To explain it very simply, they can’t afford the national lockdown,” she said.

“They’re saying that restricting people from being able to go back to work and re-open businesses means from a public perspective they can’t take their health into their own hands, in terms of being able to put food on the table.”

To respond to the unfolding situation, the New Zealand government signed off an additional support package.

“The assistance includes up to $5 million for the government to deliver covid-19 operations, and $5 million to local civil society organisations working directly with households to mitigate poverty risks, including through the provision of food rations,” said Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta.

New Zealand is sending two medical specialists to join Australia’s medical assistance team (AUSMAT) in Fiji.

Seven days in MIQ
“They will spend some seven days in MIQ and then a 28-day assignment which helps do two things, effectively support the on the ground response, but also undertake a bit of assessment about what else is required,” Mahuta said.

An anaesthetist was part of the six-member Ausmat team that arrived tonight.

Mahuta said a Defence Force infectious disease specialist will be deployed in the near future.

As Fiji grapples with the outbreak, the Health Ministry is continuing its vaccine roll-out, with another 50,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine arriving on Saturday as part of the Australian government’s support of one million doses.

New Zealand has pledged half a million doses, which Mahuta said was expected to arrive from July.

However, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern noted AstraZeneca was yet to be approved by Medsafe.

“Until they’re approved in New Zealand, we are unable to pass on those doses, so instead we have been working with Australia, who are able to help them with doses sooner into Fiji,” she said.

Fiji now has more than 1500 active cases in isolation since this outbreak in April. Five people have also died since then.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Fiji’s covid-19 cases continue to escalate as medical authorities have recorded another record breaking 166 new people now infected with covid-19 and a death at the Colonial War Memorial (CWM) Hospital in the capital Suva.

The Fiji government has stopped providing information about where the case increases are and the Health Secretary Dr James Fong admitted that community transmission was now “broad”.

The latest death is a 77-year-old man detected by a CWM screening team at his home where he had been bed-ridden for several months.

• READ MORE: Other Fiji covid pandemic crisis reports

Despite that he had pre-existing medical conditions, doctors assessing clinical data have attributed the cause of death to covid-19. He represents the seventh to die from the virus, the fifth in this outbreak alone.

Cases in the small township of Lami just outside the capital continues to increase and so measures to ensure safe passage of people from affected containment zones to safe areas on the main island Viti Levu and to other islands is a focus of the government.

“The current priority is therefore to prevent the export of cases into the other non-containment zones. As such any request to move outside of the Central Division to other areas of Viti Levu and from Viti Levu to Vanua Levu and the Maritime zone needs to be strictly regulated,” Dr Fong said.

“Pre-departure swab tests and Quarantine capability are being expanded and strengthened to reduce the risk of spread within and beyond the main island, Viti Levu.”

Dr Fong said the majority of the weekend’s new cases were linked to existing clusters so the government would post heat maps on its digital platforms “to delineate case distribution within the Central and Western divisions.”

He added everyone should practise Covid Safe measures when they left their homes irrespective of where they lived or were going.

Vaccination roll-out continues
The Ministry of Health vaccination teams continue to roll out as another 50,000 doses of Astrazeneca arrived in Fiji on Saturday night as part of the Australian Government Support.

Vaccination now moves onto the outer islands of the Northern and Eastern Divisions of the country.

Fiji’s vaccine of choice remains AstraZeneca despite the fact that the Australian government, from which it receives the majority of its supply, has recommended the discontinued use of the vaccine for its under 60-year-olds.

Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt announced earlier this week the AstraZeneca vaccine would be recommended for use in people over 60 and those under 60 would now be offered the Pfizer shot.

The Australian federal government accepted advice from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) after two women died from an extremely rare blood clotting disorder and 60 Australians out of the 3.8 million who got the shot developed blood clots.

Meanwhile the Australian government has provided Fiji with 250,000 Australian-manufactured AstraZeneca vaccines as part of its commitment of 1 million vaccines to its Pacific neighbour.

In response to concerns about Australia’s change of vaccine policy, the World Health Organisation Representative Office in the Pacific and the Ministry of Health Fiji put out a joint statement to say that after vaccinating 256,018 people (44 percent of the adult population) with one dose of AstraZeneca and administering two doses to 17,990 people, there were no confirmed cases of serious adverse effects.

Effective response measure
The WHO/MOH said covid-19 vaccination remains one of Fiji’s most effective response measures.

“Australia’s decision does not change the approach for us here in Fiji. Given the current community transmission and Covid-19 variant, all unvaccinated individuals are at risk from the virus.”

“It is also important to remember that serious adverse events following immunization with the AstraZeneca vaccine remain rare events.”

Further, the WHO continues to recommend Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines “for individuals aged 18 years and over. These vaccines have undergone the strictest safety and quality control trials and have reached the exacting standards of safety, purity, and effectiveness. Nothing is left to chance,” the statement said.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Fiji’s Health Secretary Dr James Fong confirms that the country has recorded 150 new cases in the 24-hour period ending at 8am June 19 as authorities prepare for deployment of a medical team with specialists from Australia and New Zealand.

One hundred and seventeen cases are from known clusters.

Two cases presented to the Fiji Emergency Medical Assistance Team (FEMAT) field hospital at the Vodafone Arena are under investigation and four cases are under investigation from Totogo police.

• READ MORE: Other articles about the Fiji covid crisis

Dr Fong said the Colonial War Memorial Hospital (CWMH) cluster had 32 new cases.

“A new cluster has been identified at the Nasese Medical Centre with one new case reported today, adding to the six cases already in this cluster.

Seven cases are primary contacts of other cases – this includes 3 cases from Charles Street in Toorak.

Twenty-three cases are currently under investigation and considered as cases of community transmission.

Death investigations complete
Investigations into the death of a 49-year-old at CWM Hospital reported on Friday are now complete.

The patient’s doctors at the hospital have determined that his death was a result of the severe non-covid-19 pre-existing medical condition that he was receiving treatment for during his admission at the hospital and not covid-19.

Twenty-one more covid-19 patients have recovered, which means there are now 1311 active cases in isolation.

There have been 1728 cases during this outbreak that started in April.

Fiji has recorded a total of 1798 cases since the first case was reported in March 2020.

There have been 473 recoveries and six deaths due to covid-19, with four of the deaths during the outbreak that started in April 2021.

A total of eight covid-19 positive patients have died from pre-existing non-covid-19 related illnesses.

So far 124,264 samples have been tested since this outbreak started in April 2021, with 167,125 tested since testing began in early 2020.

NZ and Australia medics to be deployed to Fiji
At the request of Fijian medical authorities, the Australian government has approved the deployment of a medical team to assist the country.

A media statement issued by Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Senator Marise Payne with Minister for Health and Aged Care Greg Hunt and Minister for International Development and the Pacific Senator Zed Seselja, confirmed that the Australian Medical Assistance Team (AUSMAT) would be in Fiji for an initial 28-day period.

Senator Payne did not say how many people would form the AUSMAT team but explained the members were from Australia and New Zealand and from various specialities in medicine.

AUSMAT is similar to Fiji Emergency Medical Assistance Team (FEMAT), which are emergency medical teams globally verified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as being able to provide a broad range of medical and emergency services in the field in times of crisis.

FEMAT had set up field hospitals in Lautoka, when the city’s hospital was locked down earlier in this current outbreak, and at the Vodafone Arena at Laucala Bay in the capital Suva.

Earlier this week Dr Fong said the Fijian government had requested AUSMAT support with scenario planning.

“We have extra space to deploy for field hospitals and we have extra critical care capacity we have yet to activate. They come to help us plan beyond that,” he said.

Doctors, nurses and paramedics
The Australian version deploys doctors, nurses, paramedics and logisticians to provide medical care in the Asia Pacific region including after Severe Tropical Cyclone Winston in February 2016.

AUSMAT teams are drawn from state and territory health services, but this time includes New Zealand nationals.

“The team will work with the Fijian Ministry of Health and will provide immediate support for health system management and infection prevention control, as well as assessments of Fiji’s priority health needs,” Senator Payne said.

“Australia has also sent 1.3 tonnes of personal protective equipment, medical supplies, including 500 thermal guns for health screening teams, testing equipment and laboratory consumables since the beginning of the current outbreak in April 2021,” she said.

“The health security of our near neighbours is a critical priority for Australia.”

The support is part of the Australian government’s covid-19 support to Fiji worth A$83.5 million for 2021.

Meanwhile, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have supplied more than 1.6 million urgent medical supplies and 9450 diagnostic testing kits to support Fiji in the ongoing detection and containment of the coronavirus disease pandemic.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Fiji health authorities have announced 115 new covid-19 cases for the 24 hour period ending at 8am today.

Health Secretary Dr James Fong said 12 cases were from new clusters – 8 of them from Max Value Supermarket, Lami, and 4 from Public Rental Board.

Seven cases have also been detected during screening at the Valelevu, Nuffield Health Centre in Tamavua, and Raiwaqa screening clinics.

• READ MORE: Other Fiji covid crisis reports

Dr Fong said 1 case was also identified during screening at Nadi Hospital.

Investigations were underway to determine any links to known cases.

Twenty one cases have been identified as primary contacts of previous cases and are under investigation by the contact tracing teams to determine if there is a cluster link.

Two cases from Naqio settlement, Rewa, 1 case from Nadave, 7 cases from Nausori Village, 4 cases in Naulu, 1 case in Omkar Rd, Narere, 1 case in Valenicina, Lami, 1 case in Verata, Nausori, 1 case from Milverton Road, Raiwaqa, 2 cases from Qauia, Lami, 1 case from Naduru Road, Nausori and 1 case from Fiji Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Services are under investigation to determine if they have links to other cases.

Community transmission
Dr Fong said these cases were currently considered cases of community transmission.

The majority of the cases announced were related to existing clusters of transmission or to localities where significant transmission had occurred.

A 49-year-old man has died at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital (CWMH).

Dr Fong said he had been admitted for almost a month and was being treated for a severe non-COVID pre-existing condition.

He tested positive for covid-19 during his admission, and his doctors are currently investigating to determine if this is a covid-19 death.

Pre-existing illnesses
RNZ Pacific reports that to date there have been 6 deaths but another 7 covid-19 positive patients have died of pre-existing illnesses.

There are 1182 active cases in isolation, with Fiji having recorded 1578 cases since the latest outbreak started in April 2021.

Dr Fong said since April, 121,193 samples had been tested, with average daily testing now at 3443.

In terms of vaccinations, “43 oercent of Fijians 18 and older have received their first dose, and 2.1 percent are fully vaccinated. That is a total of 252,791 who have received at least one dose and 12,246 who are fully vaccinated,” he said.

Vijay Narayan is news director of Fiji Village News.

Ten people have died in Fiji after testing positive for covid-19 — but only four had their deaths attributed to the coronavirus.

The Health Ministry said six other patients had died from existing chronic conditions they had while being admitted at the country’s main hospital in Suva.

This has raised some concern among Fijians who are calling for an explanation over what constitutes a covid-19 death.

• READ MORE: 105 more covid cases in Fiji – 98 linked to existing clusters
• Other Fiji covid crisis reports

Health Secretary Dr James Fong said the four patients had since died with illnesses directly related to their covid-positive status.

Six patients died at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital (CWMH) since an outbreak at the facility was announced on June 1.

Of the 860 covid cases currently in isolation,  more than 150 have been from the CWMH.

Dr Fong said each of the non-covid deaths were due to other serious medical conditions which the patients had been admitted to hospital for.

Covid-19 infection ‘incidental’
The finding of a covid-19 infection was incidental, he said.

On June 8 however, Dr Fong announced the death of a man who had tested positive for the virus upon his admission at the hospital.

But he said the doctors “determined that he died due to complications of his chronic medical condition”.

The inconsistency has led to public confusion and given rise to conspiracy theories as people took to social media to raise their concerns.

Many are calling for an explanation over what constitutes a covid-19 death.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) classifies a death due to covid-19 as one that is “resulting from a clinically compatible illness, in a probable or confirmed covid-19 case, unless there is a clear alternative cause of death that cannot be related to the covid disease (e.g. trauma).

There should be no period of complete recovery from the virus between illness and death, the WHO said.

Comparative definition
“A death due to covid-19 may not be attributed to another disease (e.g. cancer) and should be counted independently of pre-existing conditions that are suspected of triggering a severe course of covid-19.”

By comparison, Public Health England changed its definition of covid deaths in August 2020 as being anyone with a “laboratory-confirmed positive covid-19 test and died within (equal to or less than) 28 days of the first positive specimen date will now be reported.”

Fiji’s Head of Health Protection and the person in charge of covid-19 testing in the country, Dr Aalisha SahuKhan, confirmed Fiji’s case count per day was now higher than both Australia and New Zealand.

“So we are now at about 60 cases per day, which is if you’re looking at our population, that’s about 68 per million population, which is a high number. To put that in context, neither Australia nor New Zealand got to this level of cases per day.”

Dr SahuKhan said authorities had also noticed that despite the high number of cases per day, there has not been a corresponding increase in severe cases and deaths yet.

“I’m saying yet, because what we do expect from what we see around the world is that we will see that wave come in,” she said.

“So far during this outbreak, we have reported two deaths that we’ve attributed to covid-19.

“So as everyone in Fiji knows that our largest hospital, the CWM Hospital has been affected by this virus, we’ve had an outbreak there.

“Unfortunately, the first wards that covid-19 hit were the acute medical wards. So these were where the people were managed.

Long standing chronic conditions
“They are already very sick, they have long standing chronic conditions that they were admitted for and because there was an outbreak in the hospital, they also tested positive for covid.”

Dr SahuKhan said Fiji’s testing capabilities, enhanced with donations of equipment from Australia, New Zealand and the European Union had made it possible for them to track the alarming increase of the current outbreak.

“Our test positivity per day, looking at over an average of seven days, is a better measure to see what the trend is.

“So we started very low, it was about 0.2 percent of our all our tests per day were testing positive, and now we’ve come up to 2 percent which is high. The thresholds we’re using is a WHO-base threshold.”

Dr SahuKhan said that while high test positivity per day in a country could mean that authorities are not testing enough or testing only in high risk communities, Fijian authorities are confident their testing samples are an accurate illustration of the situation in Fiji.

“We have a very broad category, a spectrum of testing, and we’re still seeing that test positivity is increasing. So that indicates that we are seeing increasing cases of community transmission, but we’re still keeping up that high level of testing,” she said.

Fiji now has over 1100 covid-19 cases since April, including 89 new cases confirmed last night.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Fiji’s Health Ministry has announced 105 new covid-19 cases as the pandemic crisis worsens.

Health Secretary Dr James Fong said 98 of the cases recorded yesterday were linked to existing clusters, while links to seven more cases were still under investigation.

He said new cases recorded at Grantham Rd and Tacirua were under investigation to determine whether they had links to other cases.

• READ MORE: NFP leader Prasad warns against Fiji ‘catastrophe’ by stubborn government
• Other Fiji covid-19 crisis reports

He confirmed two patients admitted at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital (CWMH) for pre-existing severe illnesses had died.

“With the ongoing outbreak at the hospital, both patients tested positive for covid-19 during their admission,” he said.

“However, their doctors have determined that their causes of death are related to the pre-existing illnesses for which they were admitted and receiving treatment for at the hospital.

“These are not covid-19 caused deaths.”

Review of cases
Meanwhile, a review of cases from Nadi found that one case tested positive twice.

Fiji has recorded 1048 cases since the outbreak in April this year, with eight recoveries.

There are now 796 active cases in isolation.

Fiji has recorded a total of 1118 cases since the first case was reported in March, 2020.

There have been 312 recoveries and 4 deaths because of covid-19 and a total of 6 COVID-19 positive patients have died from pre-existing non-covid-19 related illnesses.

New cases — CWMH-21; Nawajikuma, Nawaka, Nadi-16; Tramline, Nawaka, Nadi- 6; Kinoya- 1; Navosai- 2; Tacirua- 2; Waila- 11; Navy- 11; IMT- 8; Grantham Rd- 5; Muanikoso- 15; and Nasinu Police Barracks- 7.

Arieta Vakasukawaqa is a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.

Fifty-one cases of covid-19 have been confirmed in Fiji tonight, with 35 of them from the fastest-growing cluster at Nadi.

This takes the total number of infections since the outbreak started in April to 900, with 684 active cases currently in isolation.

The Health Ministry said two cases were from the Lami-Nausori containment zone and their links to other cases are unknown.

• READ MORE: Five police officers among 39 new covid cases in Fiji as strategy unveiled

Health Secretary Dr James Fong said the rest of the cases were linked to existing clusters: Colonial War Memorial Hospital (CWMH) – 6; Nawaka, Nadi – 35; Vunimono – 2; the government’s Covid-19 Incident Management Team (IMT) – 4 and Waila – 1.

Dr Fong said another case was a primary contact of an active case, and the connection to a cluster was being determined by the contact tracing teams.

He said the two unknown cases were from Raiwai in Suva, and Nakasi in Nausori.

Dr Fong also announced the death of an individual who was admitted at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital and then tested positive for covid-19.

Medical complications
He said the patient’s doctors had determined that he had died because of complications of the serious medical condition that led him to his admission in hospital.

“The ministry expresses our condolences to his family,” Dr Fong said.

Thirty nine cases were reported on Thursday, and Dr Fong said the outbreak remained primarily centred in the Lami-Suva-Nausori Containment Zone.

He said 22 patients had recovered with 684 active cases in isolation while 900 cases were recorded during the current outbreak that started two months ago.

There have been 970 cases recorded in Fiji since the first case was confirmed in March 2020, with 278 recoveries and four deaths.

Four other covid-19 positive patients have died from pre-existing illnesses and are non-related to the virus.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Five police officers are among 39 new cases of covid-19 in Fiji while the government announced late last night that 32 of the latest cases are from existing clusters.

Another 11 cases were reported from the country’s main hospital in the capital Suva.

Health Secretary Dr James Fong said the ministry’s mitigation strategy was to isolate cases, treat seriously-ill patients and ensure the success of its vaccination rollout programme.

• READ MORE: Fiji frontline healthcare workers can’t stay home, says Dr Sahukhan
• Stark pleas for Fijians to take virus seriously
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• Other Fiji covid crisis reports

But he said they were concerned that Lami and the police barracks in Nasinu, both clusters outside Suva, may see increasing numbers of cases.

Teams are tracing and testing known contacts and are isolating positive patients to prevent further spread of the virus, Dr Fong said.

“In the near-term, we are concerned that Lami may see increasing numbers of cases.

“We also anticipate more cases from the cluster at the Police Barracks in Nasinu.

“Our stationary and mobile screening teams are tracing and testing known contacts and are isolating positive patients to prevent further spread of the virus.”

Police tried their best
Acting Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu told local media the force had tried its best to prevent the spread of the virus among its officers.

Initially three officers from the Nasinu Police Station had tested positive for the virus and another 15 were swabbed earlier in the day.

Neither Tudravu nor Dr Fong provided information on how the officers were infected.

“I’m not surprised because we are classified as high mobile risk because of our job, it requests us to be on the front line,” Tudravu said.

“Having said that, we have tried our best not to have anyone in the force to have the virus.

“We are there in the front line and we are vulnerable to that.”

The infected police officers are on home isolation and monitored by the Ministry of Health and guarded by police officers, Tudravu added.

Latest cases
The other latest cases included six from Nawaka, Nadi; three from the warehouses of the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption-FICAC, two from the Republic of Fiji Military Forces Naval Division, two from Waila in Nausori, one from Naitasiri, one from Caubati outside Suva and another case from the Covid-19 Incident Management Team at the Health Ministry’s headquarters in Suva.

The ministry is yet to determine the source of infection for seven other cases — four from Lami Town, one from Toorak a suburb adjacent to the central business district of Suva, one from Nasinu Town and one from Reservoir Road near the city.

Meanwhile, the government’s vaccination rollout programme continues with 228,030 people having already received at least one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Officials reported 50,000 doses of the vaccine had arrived in the country from Australia this week.

“The vaccine administration in Nadi had been temporarily halted due to a case among the administration teams,” Dr Fong said.

“Relevant personnel have since been cleared and vaccine administration in Nadi has resumed.”

Seven patients had recovered and there were now 656 active cases in Fiji.

There have been 849 cases since this outbreak began two months ago and 919 cases since March 2020.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Fiji’s Ministry of Health says it is aware of concerns about the high number of frontline healthcare workers testing positive.

However, Health Protection Head Dr Aalisha Sahukhan said these people played a critical role in the war against the virus.

The frontline healthcare workers cannot stay home because of the role they play, she said.

• READ MORE: Stark pleas for Fijians to take virus seriously
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“If our frontline workers stayed home, there would be no response to this outbreak. And there would be nobody left to care for sick patients whether they have covid or not. They protect themselves as best as they can.”

Dr Sahukhan said some of the staff from the Incident Management Team (IMT) had been impacted on by the virus recently.

“This concern is understandable and I know what you’re thinking. How are they getting infected?

“Aren’t they following the advice that they are giving us? First of all, covid-19 is a highly transmissible and contagious virus. It spreads very easily in crowded spaces.”

Dr Aalisha Sahukhan said the frontline healthcare workers were swabbed twice a week because of the nature of the work they did.

She said most of them have not seen their families for weeks as they pushed on with their groundwork in testing and swabbing Fijians.

Health authorities reported 35 new cases of covid-19 yesterday for a total of 880 and four deaths since the virus first impacted on Fiji.

Republished with permission.

A new daily record of covid-19 cases has been announced in Fiji as 94 new cases in 24 hours have been confirmed.

The Fiji government is now unable to isolate cases at its facilities, sending positive people home instead.

It has announced it was preparing to focus on caring for severely ill patients as opposed to its current strategy. It had hinted at this scenario early in this outbreak in the event the public health system would become overburdened.

• READ MORE: Leading NZ newspaper warns nation against complacency over covid
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Dr Fong, himself a primary contact of a colleague in the government’s Covid-19 Incident Management Team (IMT) who tested positive, said the majority of new cases was from transmission in closed indoor spaces.

Nine more members of the IMT have since tested positive too.

“Due to the high number of cases and constraints on quarantine capacity, new positive cases are being entered into home isolation, where feasible. Specific guidance has been provided for these individuals to ensure they do not have contact with other members of their households,” Dr Fong said.

“It is vital — particularly in multi-generational households — that the ministry’s home isolation protocols are strictly followed. While we will be regularly checking up on these individuals, adherence to our home isolation protocols within the household is critical at all times,” he said.

Shifting to mitigation
“Given the escalating numbers of new cases in the Lami-Nausori Containment zone, we are preparing to shift into a mitigation phase that ensures that healthcare resources are focused on caring for patients who develop severe illness as a result of the virus, to ensure that they can receive proper treatment and achieve the best possible outcome from the care.”

Dr Fong, himself a primary contact of a colleague in the government’s Covid-19 Incident Management Team (IMT) who tested positive, said the majority of new cases was from transmission in closed indoor spaces.

Nine more members of the IMT have since tested positive too.

“Due to the high number of cases and constraints on quarantine capacity, new positive cases are being entered into home isolation, where feasible. Specific guidance has been provided for these individuals to ensure they do not have contact with other members of their households,” Dr Fong said.

“It is vital – particularly in multi-generational households – that the ministry’s home isolation protocols are strictly followed. While we will be regularly checking up on these individuals, adherence to our home isolation protocols within the household is critical at all times,” he said.

“Given the escalating numbers of new cases in the Lami-Nausori Containment zone, we are preparing to shift into a mitigation phase that ensures that healthcare resources are focused on caring for patients who develop severe illness as a result of the virus, to ensure that they can receive proper treatment and achieve the best possible outcome from the care.”

Meanwhile, 28 of the new cases alone are from the capital Suva’s Colonial War Memorial Hospital (CWMH), which is now a dedicated covid-19 care facility.

The other new cases include 26 from Waila near Nausori town, 14 from Navosai in Nasinu Town, eight from Nawaka in Nadi, five from the Republic of Fiji Military Forces Naval division and three from its army base and one case is from Caubati just outside the capital city.

Third hospital death
Dr Fong reported the death of a patient at the CWMH in Suva but said that although the person had tested positive for covid-19, his death was not ruled the result of the virus.

This is the third such death from the country’s main hospital in less than a week.

“This individual was admitted in the CWM Hospital’s Acute Medical Ward and died Tuesday morning as a result of the medical condition for which he was initially admitted,” he said.

“While the individual did test positive for covid-19 during his admission at the hospital, we have not classified this as a covid death based on the assessment of his doctors, who have determined that he died due to complications of his chronic medical condition,” he said.

The CWMH cluster which has been the fastest growing transmission since it was discovered a week ago now continues to concern authorities as people recently discharged from the facility turn up positive cases in other districts.

This included two patients who were detected at the Valelevu Health Centre in Nasinu, the largest municipality in the country. That facility, an important part of the government’s infrastructure, is now temporarily closed for decontamination.

Four patients have recovered taking the total number of active cases to 604. There have been 775 cases since April 2021. Since the pandemic began in Fiji, there have been 845 cases and 234 recoveries and four deaths.

“Members of the public should avoid any situation that puts them into close quarters with others outside of their household or home bubble,” Dr Fong said.

“If you see a crowding situation, avoid it at all costs. Do not add to the problem. Even when you are masked, entering into close quarters with others can place you at grave risk.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Calls for more action from the Fiji government are growing louder, as authorities appear to be losing their grip on a rapidly-growing outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic in the country.

Authorities have confirmed 147 cases in the last two days alone, and the country’s main hospital has been effectively sealed off, with Suva’s emergency department now operating from a field hospital at a stadium.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has called the situation in Fiji concerning, while health authorities there say the “serious developments” are impacting on their ability to respond.

• READ MORE: More articles about the Fiji covid crisis

Opposition and civil society groups say the escalating number of covid-19 cases are a clear indication the government is not in control of the crisis.

Despite calls for a lockdown, Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has said there is no need to declare a state of emergency.

But the National Federation Party’s Professor Biman Prasad said the government must act now to avoid a disaster.

“This is a government that has lost the ability to think straight and it appears that it’s totally stranded,” he said. “Everyone must put out a proper strategy.”

Criticism becoming louder
Across the country, criticism of the government response is becoming louder, with political opponents charging that the government lacks a clear plan.

As the country’s covid situation has spiralled increasingly out of control, Fiji’s PR-savvy political leaders, who rarely shy away from a camera opportunity, have gone increasingly quiet.

“In the middle of Fiji’s biggest health crisis since independence, its minister-for-everything finds time to talk about local government reform, attack USP, lawyers, accountants and the NGOs,” Dr Prasad said.

“When numbers got out of control, the Prime Minister issued a rambling speech about Moses and the Israelites.”

The latest outbreak started when a soldier working at a mandatory isolation quarantine facility contracted the virus from a couple who had returned from abroad.

Now, there are more than 500 active cases across the country, with clusters at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in Suva, the navy and military, a Suva supermarket, several villages and, now, the country’s main covid management team at the Ministry of Health, which has forced senior health leaders, including Health Secretary James Fong, into isolation.

And on Tuesday, the entire parliamentary complex in Suva was shut down after a staff member was identified as a primary contact of someone who had tested positive with the virus.

Precautionary measure
Speaker Ratu Epeli Nailatikau said that as a precautionary measure the parliamentary precincts would be closed until further notice.

“Our hospitals and even the health ministry headquarters have not been spared from its onslaught. This is largely due to lack of a coherent strategy to fight the pandemic,” said former prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry, who leads the Fiji Labour Party, which is not in Parliament.

There are growing calls — particularly from some NGOs — for a sustained nationwide lockdown in Fiji to stamp out cases, something which authorities say would be incredibly difficult to pull off in Fiji.

On Sunday, while warning that high numbers could be expected for a while yet, Dr Fong said in a written statement that more stringent measures were not needed.

“Thanks to the massive step-up in the pace of our testing, we can continue to fight this virus in a targeted way,” Dr Fong said.

“A way that allows Fijians to access essential services and allows the economy to function as normally and safely as possible.”

Health Minister Ifereimi Waqainabete also said there was no need to get too alarmed at the current numbers, adding that most were coming from identified clusters.

Coming from clusters
“What we must be looking at is the numbers in which they are coming from,” he said.

“As long as they are coming from within the clusters and as long as we are not getting many new community cases, then we know that the programmes that are in place are working.”

New Zealand’s Foreign Minister, Nanaia Mahuta, said her officials were in close contact with counterparts in Fiji about what help could be offered.

“It is concerning, and we are vigilant in terms of keeping in contact with Fiji and responding to their needs as they arise,” she said.

“However, Fiji is tasked with responding to an issue which we’ve all had to, and we’ve given our commitment in terms of PPE, e-gear support and also some financing.”

Mahuta added that a donation of 500,000 doses of covid vaccine was still on track to arrive in Fiji in July.

This week, Australia will send an additional 50,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Fiji.

Fiji has had 751 covid-19 cases since March 2020, with 515 active cases and four deaths reported.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.