SUVA – Fiji has confirmed a total of 138 COVID-19 related deaths in the island nation’s third wave which began in January this year.

According to Fiji Broadcasting Corporation (FBC) on Thursday, the Ministry of Health said that of the 138 deaths, eight children died in the third wave. Seven of these children had significant pre-existing medical conditions while one child had no known underlying medical condition.

James Fong, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Health, said that an analysis of the total 138 deaths recorded in the third wave showed that while the central part of the country had the highest absolute number of deaths, the northern part of the country had the highest rate of death when adjusted for population.

He also confirmed that since the last update, Fiji has reported 62 new COVID-19 cases, of which, 55 new cases were recorded on Tuesday and seven new cases in the last 24 hours ending at 8 a.m. local time on Wednesday.

Currently, there are 256 active cases of COVID-19 in the island nation but this does not include the Rapid Antigen Tests done by people at home or those that self-isolate and take necessary action based entirely on their symptoms.

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“While Fiji has a high level of vaccination, we continue to emphasize ventilation, masking, physical distancing, cough/sneeze etiquette, hand washing, and isolating from others if you have symptoms,” the government said.

In Fiji, 93.2 percent of adults have so far received both doses while 98.3 percent have at least received the first dose.

Fiji, with a population of around 900,000, has a total of 63,999 COVID-19 cases now with 834 deaths since March 2020.