COVID-19 hospitalizations increase

With COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continuing to increase on New Providence, more restrictions might be necessary, former Minister of Health Dr. Duane Sands said yesterday.

“We have a problem,” he said.

“And the number of cases over the last week, the increasing number of 

hospitalizations, and the fact that we continue to have deaths ought to cause all of us to take pause.

“Now moving forward, there has to be rigid, rigid adherence to the public health measures if we are going to be able to continue the roll out of our reopened economy.

“We have seen where there had to be the curtailment of activity in Bimini. And it’s looking as if there may need to be curtailment in New Providence because New Providence is a problem right now.

“When you look at the experience at both major hospitals, PMH and Doctors Hospital, there is no question that the number of people now showing up with respiratory symptoms, signs, and symptoms of COVID, has increased. And that’s been the case for at least a week.”

Last week, Bimini was placed under a 7 p.m. curfew and saw the return of a number of other restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the midst of a new surge in cases.

After months of being subject to a 10 p.m. curfew, New Providence’s curfew was relaxed from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.

However, cases on the island have been notably higher over the past several days.

In the past week, from June 27 to July 3, 428 new cases were confirmed in The Bahamas. By comparison, from June 1 to June 26, 679 cases were confirmed in the country. 

Hospitalized cases also significantly increased, from 36 people in hospital with COVID-19 on June 26, to 57 people on July 3.

Sands expressed concern over the possibility that the Delta variant, which emerged in India a few months ago and is believed to be both more transmissible and more severe than previous strains of the virus, may have been imported and could be contributing to the recent uptick in cases.

“What we don’t know right now and what I fear is the emergence of the Delta variant,” he said. 

“And what we may be seeing now, and I say, explicitly, may be seeing, is the presence of the Delta variant in The Bahamas. And as we know, vaccination reduces deaths and hospitalization, but it does not eliminate infection and/or transmission.

“And so, since the Delta variant has become the predominant variant in many countries, it is difficult to imagine a scenario where it has not arrived in The Bahamas and it may be the reason why we are seeing this uptick.

“But if you look at the hospitalizations over the last 14 days, certainly from the 25th of June, we have seen consistent increases every single day of hospitalizations.

“The number of cases over the last four or five days, the trend is not encouraging. And, you know, COVID is the kind of disease that demands daily attention, recalibration, strategy. It’s not something that gives you a ‘bligh’ and says you’re good for the next month or two weeks. Every single day you have to recalibrate your activity.” 

Ministry of Health officials have not yet indicated that there is evidence of the Delta variant in The Bahamas. 

In April, Dr. Merceline Dahl-Regis, special health advisor in the Office of the Prime Minister, said that a COVID-19 variant of concern had been detected in The Bahamas.

However, months after samples were sent to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) to determine which variant was present, there have been no updates on the matter.

Sands said a very limited store of COVID vaccines is also concerning given the current circumstances.

The Bahamas has so far managed to secure 120,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, enough to fully vaccinate 60,000 people.

Twenty thousand of the doses – the first to arrive in The Bahamas – came by way of a donation from the government of India.

The remaining doses were secured through the COVAX facility, a global initiative that seeks to ensure equitable access to vaccines.

The Bahamas is still awaiting its third and final shipment from COVAX, consisting of 32,600 doses.

Initially scheduled to arrive in June, the shipment has been pushed back to the end of July.

Due to the delay, the government has borrowed 5,000 additional doses from Antigua and Barbuda.

It remains unclear how the government plans to source additional vaccines.

Sands said the problem is an existential one.

“What is very, very concerning is that even as people present themselves for vaccination, we don’t have the number of vaccines readily available for the foreseeable needs for the next month or two,” he said.

“And that is a pressing and existential problem.”

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