Fifteen more people have tested positive to Covid-19 on one of Fiji's popular holiday spots.
Malolo Island view from the top of a coconut tree. Photo: Malolo Island Resort
There are 17 villagers infected with the virus on Malolo Island with two cases reported on Monday.
Health teams have been deployed to Malolo to help contain the spread.
The Government also confirmed 255 new cases for the 24 hours to 8am on Wednesday.
Six people have died, taking the death toll to 459 - 457 of them from this latest outbreak that began in April.
That compares with 302 cases and nine deaths in the previous 24 hours.
Early investigations have determined that more than 20 people had recently travelled from the main island of Viti Levu to Malolo.
Health Secretary Doctor James Fong said they are expecting more cases from
Malolo with just over 3000 residents.
Dr Fong said medical team from Lautoka have travelled to Malolo Island to assist the onsite medical team with the necessary response, including isolation of cases, contact tracing, and quarantine of contacts.
Dr Fong said a 20-year-old woman from Rakiraki was among the dead.
He said she died at home on Monday.
James Fong. Photo: Facebook/Fiji govt
There have been five more deaths of positive patients, however these deaths have been classified as non-Covid related, Dr Fong said.
"A total of 459 people have died due to Covid-19 in Fiji, with 457 of these deaths reported during the April outbreak.
"There were 271 positive patients who had died from serious medical conditions they had before they contracted the virus."
Of the latest cases, he said 138 were from the West and 117 from the Central Division.
Dr Fong 242 Covid patients are in hospital - 103 are admitted at the Lautoka Hospital, 28 at the FEMAT field hospital, and 111 at the Colonial War Memorial, St Giles and Makoi hospitals.
He said 44 of them are in a severe condition and eight critical.
"A total of 323,697 samples have been tested since this outbreak started in April 2021, with 366,558 tested since March 2020. 1469 tests have been reported for August 24th.
"The 7-day daily test average is 1708 tests per day or 1.9 tests per 1000 population. The national 7-day average daily test positivity is 24.6 percent.
"As of the 24th August, 547,252 adults in Fiji have received their first dose of the vaccine and 245,749 have received their second doses. This means that 93.3 percent of the target population have received at least one dose and 41.9 percent are now fully vaccinated nation-wide."
Dr Fong said 53 people have recovered and there are now 19,107 active cases in isolation with three quarters of them at home.
