Fiji reports 16 more deaths amid 3rd wave of COVID-19

SUVA: JAQN. 18 – Fiji has reported 16 more COVID-19 deaths, bringing its COVID-19 death toll to 49 since confirmation of the third wave of the pandemic.

According to Fiji’s Permanent Secretary for Health James Fong on Tuesday, 16 new deaths and 187 new cases were recorded in the 24-hour period ending early Monday.

He stressed that the increasing deaths, including the death of a 21-year-old person, is a sad reminder of the ongoing toll that this virus has taken on individuals and the community in Fiji.

When cases in the community are very high, rare events also occur, such as severe illness and deaths in the young without significant chronic illness, he said, adding that this situation was seen during the second wave and is beginning to be seen in the third wave.

Fong urged Fijians to take heed of the advice on how to prevent themselves and others from getting infected and developing severe diseases.

Fiji now has a total of 59,715 COVID-19 cases with 746 deaths.

Currently, 92.5 percent of adults in Fiji have received both doses while 97.9 percent have received at least the first dose. A total of 30,124 children between the ages of 15 and 17 are fully vaccinated, while 10,657 children between the ages of 12 and 14 have received both doses.

Fiji, with a population of around 900,000, started its booster dose program in November last year for frontline health and essential service workers, which was later opened to everyone aged 18 and above.

-Xinhua