Fiji faces COVID-19 resurgence with Omicron variant [1]
Wednesday, January 5, 2022 - 19:59
By Eleanor Gee
Fiji is experiencing a resurgence in COVID-19 cases with 405 new cases recorded on January 2 and 175 new cases on January 3.
Two deaths were also recorded on December 31 and January 2. Both were elderly males who had pre-existing medical conditions and were not vaccinated.
The Ministry of Health and Medical Services confirmed community transmission of both the Omicron and Delta variants of the virus in the country, and warned that Omicron is vastly more infectious than Delta.
“As such, in keeping with what we see in other countries, the Omicron will become the dominant variant.”
Despite the COVID-19 resurgence, the Ministry said they are continuing to record lower than expected hospitalization numbers.
They are monitoring their health response capacity to the virus through indicators including occupancy rate of ICU beds, death rates, and vaccination coverage.
“While we see a low trend across indicators from our health facilities with increasing vaccination coverage for adults, 15-17-year-olds, and 12-14-year-olds in Fiji the current escalation of cases indicates a need for increased readiness and response levels for severe disease and hospitalization.”
The Ministry said Omicron is more likely to cause milder disease, with data from the UK and South Africa showing that the risk of hospitalization with Omicron, compared with Delta, is reduced by as much as 80 percent and, once in hospital, the risk of severe diseases with Omicron is reduced by as much as 70 percent.
“As with previous variants, unvaccinated people are at higher risk of severe disease.”
More than 92 percent of adults have been fully vaccinated in Fiji and combined with the infection-induced immunity from the large number of people who have been infected, the Ministry expects this will help to lower the number of people that develop severe disease.
Since March 2020, Fiji has recorded a total of 55,009 cases and a total of 702 deaths due to COVID-19.