Lautoka Hospital. [File Photo]

A manual audit conducted by the Ministry of Health in the Western Division revealed that 28 COVID-19 deaths were recorded but were not reported to the COVID-19 Incident Management Team.

Permanent Secretary for Health Doctor James Fong clarifies that of these deaths, five were recorded from 12th to 18th August 2021 during the Delta wave.

The other 23 occurred between January 7th, 2022 and March 4th during the Omicron wave.

He adds that four out of the 28 people who died were fully vaccinated, two had received the first dose only, and the remaining 22 were unvaccinated.

Dr Fong adds the high number of people who died while unvaccinated has followed the prevailing trend during the third wave in Fiji, where unvaccinated adults have now been dying from COVID-19 at a rate 27.2 times higher than the fully vaccinated.

The Permanent Secretary says the audit involved a manual search of death records and registers kept at the health facilities.

Meanwhile, the analysis of COVID-19 death during this third has shown that Fiji has recorded 161 deaths so far.