Permanent Secretary for Health, Doctor James Fong is urging all Fijians not to engage in unauthorized travel to and from Viti Levu after two individuals tested positive for COVID-19 in Cubi Settlement, Malolo Island.
Doctor Fong says early investigations reveal that these two individuals travelled to Malolo Island from Viti Levu without proper authorization.
They are currently isolated.
Further details will be provided once investigations are complete.
Doctor Fong says their current protocols to regulate domestic movements must be followed to prevent the spread of the virus beyond Viti Levu.
He says the remoteness of the maritime islands, and their limited resources, mean that any outbreak with severe cases will be very challenging to manage.
Doctor Fong says we need the people in the maritime islands fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to help protect them from severe disease and death before any movement occurs beyond the currently controlled repatriation.
They also repeat the call to all village leaders and elders to support the current efforts to protect our maritime islands and to immediately report any suspicious movements into your community.
302 new cases of COVID-19 have been announced for the 24 hour period that ended at 8am today.
148 cases are from the Western Division and 154 cases are from the Central Division.
There have been 430 new recoveries reported since the last update, which means that there are now 18,916 active cases.
9,653 active cases are in the Central Division, 9,127 active cases in the Western Division, 1 active case in the Northern Division (Nabouwalu) and 135 active cases in the Eastern Division (all in Kadavu).
There have been 44,420 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021.
We have recorded a total of 44,490 cases in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020, with 24,855 recoveries.
322,144 samples have been tested since this outbreak started in April 2021, with 365,005 tested since testing began in March 2020.
1,533 tests have been reported for August 23rd.
The 7-day daily test average is 1724 tests per day or 1.9 tests per 1,000 population.
The national 7-day average daily test positivity is 27.9%.
