Covid 19 coronavirus: Fiji's death toll hits 500 as 96% of target population have now had 1 jab

Fiji National Sports Commission staff gather data on households in the greater Nasinu area on Viti Levu in July. Photo / Fiji Government

Eight more people have died from Covid-19 in Fiji, taking the death toll past 500.

The Government also confirmed 290 new cases for the 24 hours to 8am yesterday.

That compares with 505 cases and seven deaths in the previous 24-hour period.

Fiji now has 17,124 active cases. There were 2306 recoveries.

The death toll is at 504, which 502 of these are from the latest outbreak that began in April 2021.

Health Secretary Dr James Fong said of the latest cases, 128 are from the Western Division, 137 from the Central Division and 25 cases are from the Eastern Division.

He said there are 25 new cases on Kadavu in the East.

"This means there are now 257 active cases of Covid-19 in Kadavu. All these individuals have been isolated.

"There have been 2306 new recoveries to report since the last update, which means that there are now 17,124 active cases - 6182 are in the Central Division, 10,680 in the West, five in the Northern Division (Nabouwalu and Macuata) and 257 in the Eastern Division (all on Kadavu).

"The ministry is currently reviewing and reconciling its active case database with recoveries and as a result the recovery numbers to intermittently increase markedly is expected as verifications are made."

There have been 46,936 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021.

Dr Fong said the latest eight deaths were reported for the period 27 August to 1 September.

Fijians get their vaccination at a drive-through centre at Nadi International Airport. Photo / Fiji Ministry of Health

Of the latest fatalities, seven were reported in the Western Division and one from the Central Division, Dr Fong said.

• An 87-year-old man from Suva presented to the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in severe respiratory distress on August 21. He died nine days later.

• A 56-year-old man from Tavua presented to the Tavua hospital in severe respiratory distress on August 22. He died eight days later.

• A 71-year old woman from Lautoka presented to the Lautoka Hospital in severe respiratory distress on August 20. She died after 11 days.

• A 67-year-old man from Tavua presented to the Tavua Hospital in severe respiratory distress on August 30. A medical team from Tavua transferred him from the Tavua Hospital to the Lautoka Hospital. He died on the same day.

• A 76-year-old woman from Nadi died at home on September 1.

• A 65-year-old man from Nadi died at home on August 30.

• A 78-year-old man from Ba died at home on August 30.

• A 46-year-old woman from Sigatoka presented to the Korolevu Health Centre in severe respiratory distress on August 27. She died on the same day.

There have been three more deaths of Covid-19 positive patients.

However, Dr Fong said these deaths have been classified as non-Covid related by their doctors.

"The doctors have determined that these deaths were caused by a serious pre-existing medical condition and not Covid-19.

"As of August 27th, the national 7-day rolling average of Covid-19 deaths per day is 6 - two in the Central Division and four in the Western Division.

"We also have recorded a total of 311 Covid-19 positive patients who died from the serious medical conditions they had before they contracted the virus. These are not classified as Covid-19 deaths."

There are currently 241 Covid-19 patients in hospital - 106 of these are at the Lautoka Hospital, 18 are admitted at the FEMAT field hospital, and 117 are at the CWM, St Giles and Makoi hospitals.

Dr Fong said 15 patients are considered to be in severe condition, while 14 are critical.

As of August 31, 560,336 adults in Fiji have received their first dose of the vaccine with 275,072 getting both jabs.

This means that 95.9 per cent of the target population has received at least one dose and 47.6 per cent are now fully vaccinated in Fiji.