COVID-19

Ministry of Health’s Permanent Secretary, Doctor James Fong said the first death is a case that was previously announced as under investigation to determine if COVID-19 was the cause.

The deceased is an 82-year-old woman from Qauia in Lami and was not vaccinated.

She had pre-existing medical conditions, was bedridden, and died at home.

According to protocol she was swabbed and tested positive for COVID-19.

The elderly woman was declared dead by the attending medical officer and after investigation, it has been determined that the cause of death was COVID-19.

The Ministry of Health has confirmed that five cases are corrections officers from Suva at the Fiji Sugar Corporation Compound in Rakiraki in the north of the main island of Viti Levu.

Permanent Secretary, Doctor James Fong said they were undergoing 14 days quarantine at the FSC compound as part of the essential movement from the red zone to the green zone when they tested positive.

The remaining cases are from the Lami-Suva-Nausori containment zone.

The Springboks squad had been isolating after three of their players tested positive for Covid-19.

They say they will "immediately resume" preparations for warm-up games against Georgia after feedback from the Medical Advisory Group of the Lions tour.

The Lions tour will start on 24 July with the sides playing three Test matches.

Scrum-half Herschel Jantjies, prop Vincent Koch and wing S'bu Nkosi were named as the three players who had tested positive.

An outbreak in Sydney linked to the highly contagious Delta variant has grown to 128 cases.

Cases have also been recorded in the Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia.

Officials say it is a "critical time". Australia has kept case numbers low with border closures and lockdowns.

Reports say the emergency meeting considered measures such as mandatory vaccinations for care home workers and new quarantine rules.

This is the first time in months that cases have emerged in multiple parts of the country at the same time.

The Ministry of Health’s Permanent Secretary, Dr James Fong said five cases are known contacts of cases from the Nawakalevu containment zone that has been undergoing 14 day quarantine in quarantine facilities in Nadi, three are from within the existing Korovou cluster, while the remaining 254 cases are from the Lami-Suva-Nausori containment zone.

Dr Fong added that 113 cases are from existing areas of interest in this zone, and 43 are from new areas of interest.

An expanded lockdown now covers 5m people in Greater Sydney, as well as the Blue Mountains, Central Coast and Wollongong.

Cases of the highly infectious Delta variant now stand at 110.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Sunday that she expected that figure to rise.

"Given how contagious this strain of the virus is, we do anticipate that in the next few days, case numbers are likely to increase even beyond what we have seen today because we are seeing that people in isolation, unfortunately, would have already transmitted to all their house contacts," she said.

The city is battling to contain an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant.

Officials reported 17 new cases on Friday, taking the cluster to 65 cases.

It is the first lockdown in Australia's largest city - home to 5.3 million people - this year.

It will affect the city centre, inner-city suburbs, as well as beachside suburbs in the east.

"We don't want to see this situation linger for weeks. We would like to see this situation end sooner rather than later," said New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian.

Authorities reported 16 new infections on Wednesday, which brings the cluster there to 37 cases.

Sydney's 5.3 million residents will have to wear masks indoors, and many will be banned from travelling out of the city.

Officials are concerned about the "extremely contagious" Delta variant.

The cluster marks the largest rise in infections in Sydney since December. For most of the year, locals have enjoyed almost no restrictions on daily life.

But the sharp case rise in the past week has prompted authorities to reinstate distancing rules.

Of this total, 548 health workers, 1, 032 other frontline workers, 1, 367 elderly persons and 994 persons with known underlying conditions have received their first dose of the vaccine.

According to the Ministry of Health, the first batch of 24, 000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine is expected to cover up to 20% of the country’s population initially prioritising health workers, frontline workers as border workers, quarantine facility staff, public transport drivers, elderly (55 and above) and people over 35 with existing medical conditions.

Seven of the infections were detected outside of the reporting period and will be included in tomorrow's figures.

Three new cases were recorded before the 8pm reporting cut-off, in addition to two infections that were announced yesterday.

The latest surge in cases has led NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian to extend the state's mask mandate for all indoor public venues to midnight next Wednesday, 30 June.

"We will extend it to all of Greater Sydney... excluding the Central Coast and the Hunter," she said.