Two more COVID-19 deaths

Two more people have died from COVID-19, bringing the total number of deaths from the disease in The Bahamas to 11, Minister of Health Dr. Duane Sands said yesterday.

He said the latest victims were two men, a 53-year-old and a 51-year-old, who are both from New Providence.

“We give our heartfelt condolences to the families of the two men who lost their lives and our prayers are with you in this very difficult time,” he said.

He also announced two new cases of COVID-19 – a 50-year-old woman on New Providence and a 29-year-old woman on New Providence. He said both women are in home isolation.

There are now 72 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country. Of them, Sands said 15 cases are health care workers.

As of yesterday, nine people were hospitalized, he said. He said eight of them are in Doctors Hospital West on New Providence, and one in the Rand Memorial Hospital on Grand Bahama.

Fourteen people have recovered in total, but there remains 792 people in quarantine – over 200 of whom are health care workers.

At least 46 staff and 39 patients at Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre are also in quarantine after a patient on the Robert Smith ward tested positive with COVID-19 after being exposed in the medical-surgical ward at Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH).

The Bahamas continues to have one of the highest case-fatality rates in the region. Health officials have said that increased testing will see that rate decrease as more people test positive for the novel coronavirus.

Dr. Merceline Dahl-Regis, health advisor to the prime minister, said the increase in cases will likely pick up after a patient on the Medical-Surgical Ward at PMH tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week.

“We would expect that the increase will continue and will be greater given the situation in the Medical-Surgical Ward at Princess Margaret Hospital as well as the increased testing that is projected beginning today,” she said.

Sands said just under 1,000 people had been tested in the country as of yesterday.

The post Two more COVID-19 deaths appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

source https://thenassauguardian.com/2020/04/24/two-more-covid-19-deaths/