The Ministry of Health has recorded eight new COVID-19 deaths for the period of August 15th till yesterday.

Six deaths were reported from the Central Division and two deaths from the Western Division.

The first COVID-19 death is a 77-year-old man from Nakasi who died at home.

He was not vaccinated.

The second COVID-19 death is a 63-year-old man from Vatuwaqa.

He was not vaccinated.

The third COVID-19 death is an 88-year-old man from Ba.

He presented to the Ba Mission Hospital in severe respiratory distress.

Doctor Fong says his family reported that he had a history of fever, cough, and shortness of breath one week prior to presentation.

He was not vaccinated.

The fourth COVID-19 death is a 54-year-old man from Suva.

He presented to the CWM Hospital in severe respiratory distress.

He died eleven days after admission and was not vaccinated.

The fifth COVID-19 death is a 60-year-old woman from Navua.

She was not vaccinated.

The sixth COVID-19 death is a 58-year- old woman from Naitasiri.

The seventh COVID-19 deaths  is a 78-year-old woman from Sigatoka who died at home.

She was not vaccinated.

The eighth COVID-19 death is an 89-year-old man from Suva.

He was declared dead on arrival by the attending medical officer at the CWM Hospital emergency department.

The Permanent Secretary says this means that he either died at home or on his way to the hospital.

He was not vaccinated.

The announcement of this death was delayed as it was under investigation by the forensic unit of the Fiji Police Force.

As highlighted in the Statement from the Permanent Secretary earlier yesterday one death from the Eastern Division is currently under investigation.

Doctor Fong says this is a 63-year-old woman from Rakiraki Village, in Yale, Kadavu.

She was declared dead on arrival by the attending medical officer at the Vunisea Hospital in Kadavu.

Early investigations have indicated that she had contact with individuals who travelled illegally from Suva to Kadavu.

A response team is currently onsite investigating the case and conducting public health investigations with testing and quarantine of contacts.

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

However, Doctor Fong says 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.

The Ministry has recorded 781 new cases of COVID-19 for the 24 hour period that ended at 8am yesterday.

626 cases are from the Western Division, 154 cases are from the Central Division, and one case is from the Eastern Division.

There have been 862 new recoveries reported since the last update, which means that there are now 21,211 active cases.

12,940 active cases are in the Central Division, 8270 active cases in the Western Division, and one active case in the Northern Division.

Two repatriation cases from Suva who tested positive in a repatriation quarantine facility in the Northern Division, and announced on Thursday, are not active cases.

Doctor Fong says they had previously tested positive in Suva and were counted in Central cases, and recovered, before travelling North.

The Ministry is currently reviewing and reconciling the active case database with recoveries and as a result, they expect the recovery numbers to increase in the coming weeks.

There have been 42,541 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021.

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