Covid-19 cases along Fiji's Suva- Nausori corridor are not being used as the sole indicator to monitor the progress of the outbreak in the country, health authorities said.
A soldier helps mobile screening teams carry out door-to-door tests in Suva. Photo: Supplied/Fiji govt
They were closely monitoring other indicators such as test positivity, hospitalisations and deaths to track the progress of the outbreak.
There are 180 patients in Fiji hospitals with 20 of them in severe condition while seven are critical.
The Government also confirmed 160 new cases and five deaths last night - all of them died at home.
Four of the latest cases were reported on the remote holiday hotspot of Naviti Island, including 88 from the west of the country and 72 cases in the Central Division.
There have been 440 new recoveries to report since the last update, which means that there are now over 14,000 active cases; 3238 of them are in the Central Division; 10,748 in the west; four in the north (Macuata) and 125 active cases are in the east of Fiji (all in Kadavu)," the Health Secretary James Fong said.
There have been 48,083 cases recorded during the outbreak that started in April 2021 and a total of 48,153 cases recorded in the country since the first case was reported in March 2020, with 33,168 recoveries.
Dr Fong said there had been seven deaths of Covid-positive patients.
"However, these deaths have been classified as non-covid deaths by their doctors. The doctors have determined that these deaths were caused by a serious pre-existing medical condition and not Covid-19.
"We also recorded a total of 345 positive patients who died from the serious medical conditions that they had before they contracted Covid-19; these are not classified as Covid deaths."
"As of 6 September, 568,244 adults in Fiji have received their first dose of the vaccine and 306,907 their second dose.
"This means that 96.9 percent of the target population have received at least one dose and 52.6 percent are now fully vaccinated nation-wide."
Photo: AFP
Focus on community scrutiny
The Health Ministry is transitioning to community surveillance testing as severe disease numbers and positivity rates approach the containment phase levels.
Dr Fong said surveillance and testing continue on Malolo Island in the west, where positive cases were diagnosed in Solevu Village last weekend.
"The intermediate team visited the villages of Somosomo, Gunu, Nasoqo, Kese and Mua-i-ra on Naviti Island for surveillance and testing.
"A total of 204 nasopharyngeal swabs were collected and have been sent to Lautoka hospital laboratory for analysis."
Dr Fong said surveillance and testing also continue for villages and settlements on the eastern island of Kadavu.
"Daily assessment of positive cases by the community health workers and zone nurses continues with cases referred to doctors in Vunisea Hospital and Kavala Health Centre when required."
Dr Fong said movement and social gathering restrictions remained in force for both islands.
Given the clear evidence of community transmission on the island, the ministry anticipate the number of cases will escalate further with the risk of severe disease and death.
"Screening and testing continue in the Namara Tiri containment zone in Labasa, with no new cases identified in the last 24 hours.
"Movement restrictions remain in force in the containment zone as well as for the whole of Labasa Town."
Fiji now has 14,115 active cases in isolation with the death toll at 525 - 523 of these from the latest outbreak that began in April.