[File Photo]

All hospitals have been notified to reintroduce more stringent COVID safety measures.

Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary Doctor James Fong highlighted this as 158 new cases of COVID-19 have been recorded since Tuesday.

62 new cases were recorded on Tuesday, 60 new cases were recorded on Wednesday and 36 new cases in the last 24 hours ending at 8 am yesterday.

Of the 158 cases recorded, 67 were recorded in the Central Division; 53 were recorded in the Western Division; 21 were recorded in the Northern Division, and 17 were recorded in the Eastern Division.

There are currently 212 active cases in the country.

Dr. Fong says Fiji continues to see an increasing trend.

The Ministry of Health has also reported one COVID-19 death, who is an 89-year-old woman with co-morbidities who was unvaccinated and died from the virus during this period.

The Health Ministry says the woman presented very late for care.

Dr. Fong says hospitals will now start restricting visitors, more strict enforcement of masking and hand sanitization practices, and strengthening screening protocols.

The Health Ministry is also calling on workplaces, advising that COVID safety
measures be more actively promoted and enforced by management.

The PS says the Ministry has also noted an increase in cases admitted that are positive for COVID-19 and there have been reports of an increase in cases reported from workplaces.