805 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported since the last update on the 29th of December last year.
316 new cases were recorded on Thursday, 223 new cases on Friday and 266 new cases in the last 24 hours ending at 8 am yesterday.
Of the 805 cases recorded since the last update, 388 cases were recorded in the Northern Division; 134 cases were recorded in the Western Division, and 283 cases were recorded in the Central Division.
There are two COVID-19 deaths to report.
The first COVID-19 death is of a 67-year-old fully vaccinated man from Raiwaqa who died at home on 29th December in respiratory distress. He had a number of severe pre-existing medical conditions that have been assessed to also have contributed to his death.
The second COVID-19 death is of a 76-year-old fully vaccinated man from Nadawa who died at home on Friday in respiratory distress. He had a significant pre-existing medical condition that may have contributed to his death.
Permanent Secretary for Health Dr James Fong says while both these deaths occurred in individuals who have been immunized with 2 doses of the vaccine, they both had significant underlying medical conditions and were over the age of 50.
Dr Fong says it is known that these factors place a person at higher risk of severe disease, even if fully vaccinated.
He adds persons over the age of 50 and those who have underlying chronic diseases such as heart disease, kidney disease, lung diseases, etc. are strongly urged to come forward and have a booster dose of the vaccine to increase their protection from infection and severe disease.
Fiji has had a total of 700 deaths due to COVID-19 in Fiji, with 698 of these deaths during the outbreak that started in April last year.
