More than 300 people with Covid-19 have been admitted to hospitals, with over 40 percent of them either on ventilators or on oxygen support, the government said.
Photo: 123rf.com
There are over 23,000 active cases in isolation with three quarters of them at home.
The death toll is now at 368 - 366 of them from the latest outbreak that began in April.
Chief medical adviser Dr Jemesa Tudravu said 386 individuals were admitted at the Covid-19 isolation wards at the hospitals.
He said over 40 percent of these patients were on oxygen support.
Dr Tudravu said 19,905 covid-positive people were under home isolation in the central division since April.
He said the focus was to raise awareness of Covid-19 and the need to address immediate community needs such as water, sanitation and food.
"The data that they are getting from the assessment is assisting the ministry in directing responses to areas of need," Dr Tudravu said.
"This is in terms of setting up additional screening facilities, intermediate care facilities, the additional isolation beds and wards in their respective facilities.
"The home isolation teams that follow-up patients, virtually, or through the use of phone-based care, putting strict risk stratification and putting people on care pathways."
Dr Tudravu said the ministry had also set up mobile teams that visited vulnerable populations.
"And they have set up call centres in the division to receive and process calls that come through the 165 and establish patient care, patient retrieval programs for patients are additional commands centres working on improving and strengthening on this main response activity areas."
Dr Jemesa Tudravu. Photo: Fiji govt
Ministry probes positive case on Vanua Levu
Meanwhile, the ministry is investigating a positive case from the Northern Division - a worker at the Nabouwalu Wharf in Bua.
In a statement, the ministry stated that investigations into how the patient contracted the virus are underway.
"However, it appears the exposure to the virus happened onboard a ship unloading cargo from Suva earlier this week. This person tested positive during routine swabbing of wharf workers on (Friday, August 13).
"The patient has been securely moved to the Malau isolation facility and household members have been quarantined. So far, the person's household members have tested negative for the virus.
"With the help of the careFIJI app, the ministry's Covid-19 response team in the Northern Division have identified other primary contacts, including workplace contacts, and they have been quarantined, with test results pending."
The ministry said contact-tracing teams are trying to locate people who the person may have come into contact with during his infectious period.
The Ministry assured residents on Vanua Levu that its health teams are working with other local agencies and communities to prevent any further spread of the virus.
"The Permanent Secretary James Fong will be briefed by the northern team on the progress of investigations and the response, and decisions will be made about any further measures that may be required to quickly halt transmission."
As of 12 August, the ministry said 531,546 adults in Fiji had received their first dose of the vaccine and 206,670 had got both jabs.
This means that 90.6 percent of the target population have received at least one dose and 35.2 percent are now fully vaccinated nation-wide, the ministry said.
Contact tracing continues for most parts of Suva and Nausori.
Dr Fong said Fijians could check the ministry's vaccine dashboard to find real-time data on first-dose and second-dose numbers at the national, divisional and sub-divisional levels.
Photo: Facebook / Fiji Government