Two individuals have tested positive for COVID-19 in Cubi Settlement, Malolo Island.

The Ministry of Health says early investigations reveal that the two travelled to Malolo Island from Viti Levu without proper authorization.

They are currently isolated.

Permanent Secretary for Health, Doctor James Fong says further details will be provided once investigations are complete.

Doctor Fong is again urging all Fijians not to engage in unauthorized travel to and from Viti Levu.

All current protocols to regulate domestic movements must be followed to prevent the spread of the virus beyond Viti Levu

The Ministry has also recorded 302 new cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hour period that ended at 8am yesterday.

148 cases are from the Western Division and 154 cases are from the Central Division.

There have been 430 new recoveries reported since the last update.

This means that there are now 18,916 active cases.

9,653 active cases are in the Central Division, 9,127 active cases in the Western Division, 1 active case in the Northern Division, and 135 active cases in the Eastern Division.

The PS says they are currently reviewing and reconciling their active case database with recoveries and as a result expect the recovery numbers to increase in the coming weeks.

There have been 44,420 cases during the outbreak that started in April this year.

There have been a total of 44,490 cases in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020, with 24,855 recoveries.

There are nine new COVID-19 deaths to report for the period of 18th – 23rd August.

Four deaths were reported from the Central Division and five deaths were reported from the Western Division.

The first COVID-19 death to report is a 60-year-old woman from Lautoka.

She presented to the Lautoka Hospital in respiratory distress.

She reported having a fever, cough, and shortness of breath for one week prior to presentation.

She died 11 days after admission and was not vaccinated.

The second COVID-19 death to report is a 67-year-old woman from Lautoka.

She presented to the Lautoka Hospital Emergency Department in severe respiratory distress.

She was not vaccinated.

The third COVID-19 death to report is a 66-year-old woman from Navua who died at home.

She was not vaccinated.

The fourth COVID-19 death to report is a 66-year-old man from Naitasiri.

He presented to the CWM Hospital in severe respiratory distress.

He died 10 days after admission and was not vaccinated.

The fifth COVID-19 death to report is an 84-year- old woman from Navua who died at home . She was not vaccinated.

The sixth COVID-19 death is a 57- year-old man from Nadi.

He presented to the Nadi Hospital in severe respiratory distress.

He was not vaccinated.

The seventh COVID-19 death to report is an 80-year-old man from Nadi.

He presented to the Nadi Hospital in severe respiratory distress.

His family reported that he had shortness of breath for one week prior to presentation.

The eighth COVID-19 death to report is a 72-year- old woman from Suva.

She presented to the CWM Hospital in severe respiratory distress.

She died 16 days after admission.

She received the 1st dose of the vaccine in late July.

She did not receive the second dose of the vaccine. This means that she was not fully vaccinated.

The ninth COVID-19 death to report is a 49-year-old man from Ba who died at home. He was not vaccinated.

There have been 9 more deaths of COVID-19 positive patients.

However, these deaths have been classified as non-COVID deaths by their doctors.

Doctors have determined that their deaths were caused by serious pre-existing medical conditions and not COVID-19.

With yesterday’s reported deaths, there have now been 453 deaths due to COVID-19 in Fiji, with 451 of these deaths during the outbreak that started in April this year.

Click here for the interactive GIS Dashboard