Fiji has reported 860 positive cases of COVID-19 and three deaths in the last 24-hour period ending at 8am on Friday.
The Health Ministry said last night all three patients were not vaccinated against the virus.
A 56-year-old man from Davuilevu in Nausori was admitted to the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in Suva with COVID-19 symptoms (cough, fever and generalised body pains).
Health Secretary James Fong said the man had been unwell for two weeks and his condition worsened in hospital. He died three days after admission.
"The second COVID-19 death is a 68-year-old man from Suva who was referred to the CWM Hospital from the Samabula screening clinic," Dr Fong said.
"He was noted to be in severe respiratory distress and his condition worsened in the hospital."
He died one day after admission.
Dr Fong said a 69-year-old woman from Nabua was referred to the CWM Hospital from the Samabula Health Centre.
"She presented in severe respiratory distress. Her condition worsened in hospital and she died on the same day."
Dr Fong said another death, a 15-year-old who had tested positive to COVID, is being investigated to determine the cause.
Transmission, vaccination update
As of July 8, 340,334 adults in Fiji have received their first dose of the vaccine and 62,445 have received their second doses. This means that 58 percent of the target population have received at least one dose and 10.6 percent are now fully vaccinated nation-wide.
The two drive-through vaccination centres within the Suva-Nausori corridor (Albert Park and the Fiji National University - Nasinu Campus at Valelevu) is open Saturday from 9am- 2pm for vaccination.
Fijians can 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. You can access the live dashboard at http://bit.ly/3h2JfCZ.
As of July 9, the seven-day average daily deaths in Fiji is three deaths per day. Out of the 49 COVID deaths in this outbreak 41 (84 percent) of individuals were unvaccinated and eight (16 percent) received only one dose of the vaccine.
None of the individuals who have died from COVID-19 in Fiji have been fully vaccinated.
"We also have recorded 19 COVID-19 positive patients who died from the serious medical conditions that they had before they contracted the virus," Dr Fong said. "None of these individuals, who died from non-COVID related medical conditions, were fully vaccinated."
There have been 62 new recoveries reported since the last update. There have been 9451 cases during the outbreak that started in April this year.
There is a total of 9521 cases in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020, with 1518 recoveries.
Fiji now has 7932 positive people in isolation with 51 deaths reported, 49 from this latest April outbreak.
RNZ
