COVID-19

There were 1220 new cases reported in the 24-hour period that ended at 8am yesterday.

The Ministry of Health said there were seven deaths between 31 July and 2 August.

Six people died in the Central Division, and one death was from the Western Division.

The Western division has seen new cases escalate to 464 in a day.

There were 756 new COVID-19 cases in the Central Division.

There have been three more deaths of COVID-19 positive patients however doctors have determined that these were due to serious pre-existing medical conditions.

The Ministry of Health’s Permanent Secretary, Doctor James Fong confirmed that the 13 deaths were reported between 29th July and August 1st.

Seven of the deaths were in the Central Division, and six were in the West.

Most of these deaths are elderly, 90 being the oldest and 44 being the youngest.

Of the 13 individuals who died, 2 only have received their first dose of the vaccine while eleven have not being vaccinated.

A sufficient percentage of Americans have now been vaccinated to avoid lockdowns, Fauci said on ABC's "This Week".

"Not enough to crush the outbreak, but I believe enough to not allow us to get into the situation we were in last winter," he said.

The average number of new coronavirus cases reported nationwide has nearly doubled in the past 10 days, according to a Reuters analysis.

Even if states do not resort to lockdowns again, the spread of the Delta variant could still threaten the economy.

The government reported 1163 new cases and six deaths in the 24 hours to 8am yesterday.

That compares with 1301 cases and nine deaths in the previous 24-hour period.

Health Secretary Doctor James Fong said all the latest victims were unvaccinated.

He said severe disease and death due to the coronavirus among infants were rare.

"However the doctors overseeing this baby's care confirmed that he did die because of Covid-19," Dr Fong said. "And we know that once a very high level of infections are reached in the community, these rare events do occur.

There were nine deaths between the 26th and 27th of this month.

The Ministry of Health has confirmed that there have been 245 new recoveries reported since the last update.

There are now 20,200 active cases.

Of the new cases announced yesterday, 293 cases are from the Western Division and 1008 cases are from the Central Division.

17,774 active cases are in the Central Division and 2,426 in the West.

53 patients are considered to be in severe condition, and 16 are in critical condition.

Since April, Fiji's COVID-19 outbreak has escalated to more than 25,000 cases.

However, in June Fiji began distinguishing between COVID-19 deaths and people who tested positive for the disease but died of other medical conditions.

Michael Baker, a professor of public health at Otago University, said Fiji may be downplaying the pandemic's cost.

Earlier today, Sports Illustrated confirmed US pole vaulter Sam Kendricks had tested positive and is out of the Tokyo Olympic games.

As a matter of precaution, Australians and others identified as close contacts will now be tested and will await their results.

Results can be returned in about six hours, but that will be a long six hours for those waiting to have their concerns confirmed or put aside, not to mention the stress of having training cut short.

This is precisely the scenario many had predicted ahead of the games and now the system will be tested in full.

Minister of Health, Silas Bule, was at the airport yesterday to welcome safe and effective vaccines from Australia’s Acting High Commissioner, Clemency Oliphant.

The 20,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine are manufactured in Australia and are approved by the World Health Organization.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Australia has been supporting Vanuatu to respond to COVID19.

Vanuatu thanked Australia for its ongoing support to combat this crisis to ensure health security in Vanuatu and in the region.

Australia's largest city has been under stay-at-home orders since late June due to an outbreak of the Delta variant.

More than 2,500 people have been infected in Sydney's worst outbreak this year.

New South Wales - of which Sydney is the capital - reported 177 new cases on Wednesday, the most in a day since March 2020.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said it was not possible for the city to exit lockdown on Friday as had been planned.

She announced further curbs on movement - including a 10km (6.5 miles) limit on essential shopping.

Sixty of those cases are known to have been in the community while infectious.

A further 19 cases were in isolation for only part of their infectious period and the isolation status of another 32 cases are under investigation.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the main focus of concern had shifted to Western Sydney.

"We are now seeing the virus becoming more prevalent in Western Sydney than south-west Sydney," she said.