‘It’s still a very grim scenario’

As of Monday, The Bahamas recorded 2,447 new COVID cases for the month of September — down notably from August, when 3,540 new cases were confirmed in a grim record, but former Minister of Health Dr. Duane Sands warned yesterday that the COVID-19 situation in The Bahamas remains dire, and no one should be fooled into letting their guard down anytime soon.

While confirmed cases have decreased, test positivity rates have remained high, with a rate of 19 percent on Monday — nearly four times as high as the World Health Organization’s recommendation of a maximum rate of five percent.

This is an indication that the COVID situation is still bad and testing needs to be increased.

Up to the latest update, 140 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in The Bahamas, 17 of whom were in intensive care, also down from the 195 people who were hospitalized on September 8.

The lead-up to the general election, which took place nearly two weeks ago, raised concerns among many Bahamians, who worried that crowds at drive-in rallies, on nomination day, at the advanced poll, and on Election Day would result in an explosion in new COVID cases.

However, with just two days left in the month, it is unlikely that the numbers in September will come close to matching the numbers in August. 

Sands said that while numbers have trended downward, new information from the emergency rooms indicates that hospitalizations could be increasing again.

“There appeared to be a slight decrease in the volume of cases being seen in the various emergency rooms,” Sands said.

“But the acuity of illness remains very high, not as high as it was, say, two or three weeks ago, but still high. And the critically ill patients, there are still many of them. And we have been seeing a number of deaths as well.

“And so, while the numbers have ticked down a little bit, we are nowhere near in the range where we can breathe a sigh of relief. It is still unacceptably high.

“The impact on the healthcare system hasn’t changed. The healthcare system remains overwhelmed, and that is in the public and private sectors. We are still challenged with finding nursing and other allied health personnel to cover a lot of these patients. It’s still a very, very, very grim scenario.

“So, in the last three days, I’ve probably operated on, I don’t know, four or five COVID patients. So, it remains incredibly busy.

“And we are hoping and praying that we don’t see the uptick, although, from the information that I’m getting from the emergency room, it appears as if the volume of patients coming through is starting to go up again. Only time will tell.

“Isn’t it amazing that we are celebrating 140 to 150 patients in hospital?”

Up to the latest COVID update, the number of COVID-19 deaths in September was 73.

However, it could take weeks or longer in some cases for some deaths to be confirmed as COVID deaths.

The number of confirmed August deaths was 133. Many of those deaths were not confirmed until this month.

As of Monday, 43 deaths were still under investigation.

Sands said the number of deaths hospitals are seeing is still alarming.

“The biggest issue remains the number of COVID deaths,” he said.

He added, “That unfortunate trend hasn’t stopped. Just as we are having this conversation, I got some unfortunate news about another patient, just since this conversation started. So, it is bad. It is bad. It is bad.”

Sands said it is important to provide support to the new government and any of its plans to bring COVID under control in The Bahamas. 

“Hopefully, with all of us working together, we can get through this,” he said.

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