SUVA, June 17 (Xinhua) -- Fiji recorded 121 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, including 61 cases linked to existing clusters and two newly identified clusters, according to the Ministry of Health on Thursday.
The ministry's permanent secretary James Fong said the majority of new cases are within known clusters in areas already under a lockdown or are individuals under home quarantine.
New clusters in new locations pose a serious risk of wider transmission to the country, he said, adding that the Ministry of Health is prepared to mitigate the impact of a larger number of daily caseload.
The national seven-day average daily test positivity rate now stands at 2.5 percent, he said.
He said contingency plans are in place to care for patients who develop severe symptoms.
Fong said local communities should not wait for a lockdown order to come into effect before adopting the COVID-safe behavior.
Fong said essential movement, when managed in a COVID-safe manner, can occur without putting community members at high risk of becoming infected.
The permanent secretary called on every Fijian to be vigilant and observe COVID-safe discipline.
Fong said as of Wednesday, about 246,000 people, or 42 percent of eligible Fijians above the age of 18, have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Fiji now has a total of 1,043 active COVID-19 cases, 388 recoveries and five deaths. Enditem
