Bula vinaka everyone.
Here is another edition of some basic information you may need to know for today.
First, here is your weather forecast for today:
Weather
- A trough of low pressure is expected to approach the group from the northeast and lie over the northern and eastern parts of the country by tomorrow.
- It is expected to affect the country till Wednesday
- Forecast to midnight tomorrow for the Fiji group: Today : Cloudy periods with brief showers over the greater Suva, Nausori and Tailevu area, Naitasiri, Cakudrove and northeastern parts of Macuata province, Lau and Lomaiviti group.
- Elsewhere, fine apart from isolated afternoon or evening showers and thunderstorms with heavy falls.
- Tomorrow : Some showers and isoloated thunderstorms in the afternoon about Vanua Levu, Taveuni, Lau and Lomaiviti group, Naitasiri and Ra province, the greater Suva, Nausori and Tailevu area.
- Partly cloudy with afternoon showers and thunderstorms elsewhere.
- Isolated heavy falls likely during afternoon and evening.
- Moderate easterly winds. Winds gradually becoming east to northeast tomorrow.
- Moderate seas.
- Outlook for Wednesday : Some showers and afternoon thunderstorms over Vanua Levu, greater Suva, Nausori and Tailevu area, Naitasiri and Ra province, Lau and Lomaiviti group.
- Showers gradually easing from the north.
- Elsewhere, cloudy periods with showers and thunderstorms the afternoon and evening.
COVID-19 daily press briefing
- The Permanent Secretary of Health and Medical Services will issue an updated statement every night – this can be accessed via the Fijian Government FB page.
COVID-19 vaccination
- Stay alert and monitor radio announcements and check the Government’s Facebook page to get the updated schedule of the mobile vaccination teams in your communities.
General information
- Nabua NRL School Holiday Clinic at Sukanaivalu Ground, Nabua at 9am
- Suva Tiger Taekwondo Program at YMCA Gym at 5pm
- Free Rape Prevention Awareness by Tiger Self Defense at 6pm
EFL Planned Power Shutdown
- Ovalau – 9am to 4pm
- Adi Lady Davila Ganilau Road, Davuilevu – 8am to 5pm
- Etatoko, Ba – 9am to 5pm
- Nakelo, Nausori – 8am to 5pm
- Labasa – 8.30am to 4.30pm
- Sigatoka – 8.30am to 4.30pm
- Princess Road – 7.30am to 6pm
- Nadi Back Road, Nadi – 9m to 5pm
- Savusavu – 8.30am to 4.30pm
Editor’s movie picks:
- Morbius – 2.45pm, 8.15pm at Life Cinema Lautoka; 1.10pm at Life Cinema Nadi; 12pm, 8.30pm at Life Cinema Nakasi; 11.20am, 5.40pm at Life Cinema Labasa
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2 – 11.40am, 1.40pm, 4.40pm, 7.30pm at Village 6 Suva
Current Affairs:
- The Permanent Secretary for Agriculture Vinesh Kumar to receive the Biogas Equipment from the Ambassador of Israel to the Republic of Fiji and the Pacific Islands Roi Rosenblit at the Ministry of Agriculture Conference Room, MOA HQ Raiwaqa at 3pm
COVID-19
Health Ministry advice:
- People with severe COVID-19 are still dying at home, or are coming to a medical facility in the late stages of severe illness.
- Severe COVID-19 is a medical emergency, and a delay in receiving appropriate medical treatment reduces your chance of recovering from the disease. You are at higher risk of developing severe COVID-19 if you are over the age of 50 or have a non-communicable disease or chronic disease like diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, kidney disease, or if you are obese or pregnant.
- If you are at high risk of severe disease and have any symptoms of COVID-19 such as a cough, runny nose, fever, sore throat, body ache, headache, loss of taste/smell – please come to your nearest screening clinic to be checked and tested by our medical teams.
- The severe symptoms of COVID-19, include the following: – Difficulty breathing; – Persistent pain or pressure in the chest; – Severe headache for a few days; – New confusion, inability to wake or stay awake; – Pale, gray, or blue-coloured skin, lips or nail beds.
Source: MOHMS
On 26 November 2021, WHO designated the variant B.1.1.529 a variant of concern, named Omicron, on the advice of WHO’s Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution (TAG-VE). This decision was based on the evidence presented to the TAG-VE that Omicron has several mutations that may have an impact on how it behaves, for example, on how easily it spreads or the severity of illness it causes. Here is a summary of what is currently known.
Current knowledge about Omicron
Researchers in South Africa and around the world are conducting studies to better understand many aspects of Omicron and will continue to share the findings of these studies as they become available.
Transmissibility: It is not yet clear whether Omicron is more transmissible (e.g., more easily spread from person to person) compared to other variants, including Delta. The number of people testing positive has risen in areas of South Africa affected by this variant, but epidemiologic studies are underway to understand if it is because of Omicron or other factors.
Severity of disease: It is not yet clear whether infection with Omicron causes more severe disease compared to infections with other variants, including Delta. Preliminary data suggests that there are increasing rates of hospitalization in South Africa, but this may be due to increasing overall numbers of people becoming infected, rather than a result of specific infection with Omicron. There is currently no information to suggest that symptoms associated with Omicron are different from those from other variants. Initial reported infections were among university students—younger individuals who tend to have more mild disease—but understanding the level of severity of the Omicron variant will take days to several weeks. All variants of COVID-19, including the Delta variant that is dominant worldwide, can cause severe disease or death, in particular for the most vulnerable people, and thus prevention is always key.
Source: WHO
