Fiji has reported 258 Covid-19 cases for the 24 hours to 8am on Saturday.
Naviti Island in the Yasawa Group. Photo: Facebook/Naviti Island
The Health Ministry said 152 cases were from the Western Division and 106 cases from the Central Division.
There were no deaths compared to 205 cases and 11 deaths recorded on Friday.
Health Secretary Dr James Fong confirmed one case on the remote island of Naviti in the Yasawa Group.
The patient was from Somosomo Village.
Naviti is a popular tourist destination and lies off the west of the main island Viti Levu.
There are about 1000 residents on Naviti.
"The person developed severe Covid-19 symptoms and was medically evacuated via airlift to Lautoka Hospital," Dr Fong said.
"There are no new deaths to report, however there have been three deaths of Covid-positive patients. But these deaths have been classified as non-covid deaths by their doctors.
"The doctors have determined that their deaths were caused by serious pre-existing medical conditions and not Covid-19."
Dr Fong said a total of 297 positive patients had died from the serious medical conditions they had before they contracted Covid-19; these are not classified as covid deaths.
As of 23 August, the 7-day rolling average of covid deaths per day is 7.
A total of 328,567 samples have been tested since the outbreak started in April 2021.
"371,428 samples have been tested since March 2020. 1560 tests have been reported for August 27. The 7-day daily test average is 1680 tests per day or 1.9 tests per 1000 population.
"Weekly testing is at 12.9 tests per 1000 population, which remains above the WHO recommended level of 4 per 1000 population per week.
"The national 7-day average daily test positivity is 19.7 percent, which is on a downward trend but still indicating a high level of community transmission."
.. Photo: Fiji govt
Dr Fong said as of 27 August, 558,414 adults in Fiji had received their first dose of the vaccine and 263,243 got both jabs.
This means, he said, that 95.2 percent of the target population have received at least one dose and 44.9 percent are fully vaccinated.
"We are currently doing a mop-up exercise of our first dose campaign, which will allow us to specifically target communities with low coverage, and subsequently also correct and update the total eligible population for our current vaccination program.
"There are currently 242 Covid-19 patients admitted to the hospital. 115 patients are at the Lautoka Hospital, 23 at the FEMAT field hospital, and 104 are admitted at the CWM, St Giles and Makoi hospitals.
20 patients are considered to be in severe condition, and 11 in critical condition.
The 7-day average of new cases per day is 334 cases per day or 377 cases per million population per day.
Restricted movement
The northern town of Labasa town has been under restricted movement, said Dr Fong.
This is to reduce the risk of the virus spreading out of this area and to allow the contact tracing teams to conduct rapid screening of the local population.
He said the restricted measures in the Labasa town area include:
* Curfew from 8pm to 4am. If more cases are detected, these hours may change.
* Until further notice, all persons in a public place in the provinces of Bua and Macuata, must wear a face covering, except with reasonable excuse. Children under 5 years are exempt from this requirement.
James Fong. Photo: Facebook/Fiji govt
The following essential businesses can remain open, but must apply strict Covid protocols:
* Supermarkets and shops selling food
* Banks
* Pharmacies
* National pension fund.
Restaurants can only open for delivery and takeaway services, no in-person dining.
Other businesses, such as factories and shops, can open but must apply the following measures:
* Vendors and businesses must ensure strict physical distancing. Customers in queues must be spaced two metres apart and no crowding.
* Customer-facing businesses should limit customer capacity to 50 percent.
* Businesses that do not manage these risks with Covid-safe plans will be shut down.
Within the Labasa town area, higher-risk businesses such as gyms, movie theatres, video gaming shops, cyber cafes, taverns, bars, billiard shops and amusement arcades cannot open for at least the next 14 days.
Covid in Fiji
* 436 new recoveries reported since the last update
* 19,130 active cases
* 9,175 active cases are in the Central Division, 9786 in the West, five active case in the Northern Division (Nabouwalu and Macuata) and 164 active cases in the Eastern Division (all in Kadavu).
* 45,516 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021
* 45,4631 cases in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020, with 25,725 recoveries.
