Wells: Expected third COVID wave not yet taking place

The continued flatlining of COVID-19 cases in The Bahamas following the Christmas holidays is “a fantastic achievement”, according to Minister of Health Renward Wells, who added an anticipated third wave “seems to not be taking place”.

“Certainly, what we would’ve anticipated taking place during the Thanksgiving holiday did not take place,” Wells told The Nassau Guardian.

“The numbers remained low. We saw a little spike around days 13 and 14 when we expected to see a spike. We saw some spikes in numbers in Grand Bahama but it was not a sustained circumstance. The numbers went right back down again in the following days and have remained down. Then, we expected that during Christmas we were going to see a spike in January.

“On the days we expected to see the spike or small bump in some of the numbers for Christmas and for New Year’s, as you would know, over this past weekend we did go up to 18 but since then we have dropped again. And so, we also increased a little bit with our hospitalizations but we are now back.

“So, it seems like the anticipated spike and third wave we were anticipating seems to not be taking place. So, it’s a fantastic achievement on the part of the Ministry of Health, the health team and the Bahamian people for the way they have conducted and comported themselves.”

The Bahamas has been grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020.

As of Monday, 8,068 cases have been confirmed; a majority of those cases were confirmed between July and October.

One hundred and sixty-nine cases were confirmed between January 1 and January 18, according to the Ministry of Health.

Last month, Wells told reporters that the first two weeks of January 2021 will determine whether more restrictive measures are necessary to curb the spread of the virus in The Bahamas.

Yesterday, when asked whether the government is eyeing relaxed restrictions due to a lack of a surge in cases, Wells replied, “I think even in the orders today you might see a relaxation on some travel to Grand Bahama on a ship but the competent authority really has to speak to that.

“I do believe the prime minister is going to be coming back to the country, as he said, with regards to our circumstances and making further decisions for us as a people based on the health recommendations.

“So, it will be what the Ministry of Health professionals are recommending and then we’ll take that into consideration and the competent authority — the Cabinet and the prime minister — will move forward.”

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source https://thenassauguardian.com/wells-expected-third-covid-wave-not-yet-taking-place/