The Ministry of Health has recorded 596 new cases of COVID-19 and two new deaths since the last update.

Permanent Secretary for Health Doctor James Fong says 254 cases were recorded in the Central Division, 103 cases were recorded in the Western Division, six cases were recorded in the Northern Division, and nine cases were recorded in the Eastern Division.

224 new cases were recorded on Tuesday and 372 cases were recorded in the last 24 hours ending at 8 am yesterday.

The first COVID-19 death to report is of a 75-year-old male from Suva who died at his home last Friday.

He was fully vaccinated and had significant pre-existing medical conditions that also contributed to his death.

The second COVID-19 death to report is a 56-year-old woman from Korovou who died at home last Saturday in respiratory distress.

She had only received her first dose of vaccine and had multiple pre-existing medical conditions that also contributed to her death.

Dr. Fong says the death rate graphs indicate an increase in the number of COVID-19 deaths in the Central Division, while the other Divisions have not recorded any new COVID-19 deaths.

There have been 704 deaths due to COVID-19 in Fiji, with 702 of these deaths during the outbreak that started in April last year.

627 COVID-19 positive patients who died from serious medical conditions they had before they contracted COVID-19, these are not classified as COVID-19 deaths.