The Fiji Times » What’s happening today!

Bula vinaka all.

Here’s another edition with some basic information you might need to know today.

First, here is your weather forecast for today:

weather

• An extensive area of ​​cloud and rain with an associated low pressure valley is expected to affect Fiji later tomorrow.
• Forecast to midnight tomorrow for the Fiji group: For the land areas of the Yasawa and Mamanuca groups.
• Strong winds are expected to ease later in the day. stormy sea.
• Elsewhere, expect moderate to fresh northerly winds, sometimes gusty.
• Moderate to rough seas.
• Occasional rain and few thunderstorms over Northern Division, Northern and Western Viti Levu, Western Viti Levu Interior, Yasawa and Mamanuca Groups.
• Rain will turn to showers tomorrow.
• Patchy rain and scattered afternoon or evening thunderstorms over eastern Viti Levu interior, southern and eastern Viti Levu, Lau and Lomaiviti groups. Rain will turn to showers tomorrow.
• Otherwise scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms.
• A few serious falls are to be expected.
• Local heavy falls can cause flash flooding of low-lying areas.
• Outlook for Saturday: Occasional showers and scattered thunderstorms over Northern Division, Northern and Western Viti Levu, Western Viti Levu Interior, Yasawa and Mamanuca Groups.
• Otherwise scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms.

Daily press briefing on COVID-19

• The Permanent Secretary for Health and Medical Services will issue an updated statement each night – this can be accessed via the Fiji Government FB page.

COVID-19 vaccination

• Stay alert and follow the radio broadcasts and visit the government Facebook page for the updated schedule of mobile immunization teams in your communities.
  

general information

• Suva Charity Fundraiser (stationary drive) Highway Kava Bar at 18:00
  

EFL planned power shutdown

• Vuniniudrovu, Labasa – 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m
  

entertainment

Film selection by the editors:

• Black Light – 11:20 a.m. at Life Cinema Lautoka; 11.20am, 6.10pm at Life Cinema Nadi; 11:20, 15:40, 20:40 at Life Cinema Nakasi; 11:20 a.m., 5:50 p.m. at Life Cinema Labasa
• Badhaai Thu – 11am, 2.30pm, 5.10pm, 8.40pm at Damodar City

COVID-19

Advice from the Ministry of Health:

• People with severe COVID-19 are still dying at home or arriving at a medical facility in the late stages of a serious illness.
• Severe COVID-19 is a medical emergency, and a delay in receiving appropriate medical attention will reduce your chance of recovering from the disease. You are at higher risk of developing severe COVID-19 if you are over 50 years old or have a non-communicable or chronic disease such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, kidney disease, or if you are obese or pregnant.

• If you are at high risk for serious illness and have any symptoms of COVID-19 such as cough, runny nose, fever, sore throat, body aches, headache, loss of taste/smell, please come to your nearest screening clinic to be checked and tested by our medical teams.
• Severe symptoms of COVID-19 include: – Difficulty breathing; – Persistent pain or pressure in the chest; – Severe headache for a few days; – New confusion, inability to wake up or stay awake; – Pale, gray or blue skin, lips or nail beds.

Source: MOHMS

On November 26, 2021, following the advice of the WHO Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution (TAG-VE), WHO classified variant B.1.1.529 as a variant of concern, named Omicron. This decision was based on the evidence presented to the TAG-VE that Omicron has multiple mutations that can affect its behavior, such as how easily it spreads or the severity of the disease 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 results of these studies as they become available.

Transmissibility: It is not yet clear whether Omicron will be more transmissible (e.g. more easily transmitted from human to human) compared to other variants, including Delta. The number of people testing positive has increased in areas of South Africa affected by this variant, but epidemiological studies are being conducted to understand whether this is due to omicron or other factors.

Disease severity: It is not yet clear whether infection with Omicron causes more severe disease compared to infection with other variants, including Delta. Preliminary data suggest that there is an increase in hospital admissions in South Africa, but this may be due to the increasing total number of infected rather than specific infection with Omicron. There is currently no information to suggest that the symptoms associated with Omicron differ from those of other variants. The first reported infections were in university students — younger individuals who tend to have milder disease — but it will take days to several weeks to understand the severity of the Omicron variant. All variants of COVID-19, including the world’s predominant delta variant, can cause serious illness or death, particularly in those most at risk, and as such prevention is always key.

Source: WHO