Ministry of Health clarifies hospitalization numbers, cases in hospital now at 61
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Surpassing the 1,500 case milestone, an additional 107 new coronavirus cases were reported by health officials today, along with two additional deaths.
The Ministry of Health advised that the deaths include two men from New Providence — a 46-years-old and a 65-years-old.
Officials also reported a third death that was “non-COVID-19” related.
The death toll now stands 22.
There have also been three non-COVID related deaths.
Among the new infections, there were 59 in New Providence, 44 in Grand Bahama, one in Exuma, and three with locations pending.
The number of cases now stands at 1,531.
The ministry’s dashboard now indicates that 61 people are in hospital, down from the 78 reported on Tuesday.
As of Monday, there were 32 hospitalized cases.
Health officials sought to clarify the significant rise in hospitalized cases reported yesterday, saying the uptick was attributed to the majority of the cases “institutionalized” at Sandilands Rehabilitation Center (SRC).
The ministry indicated that the number of hospitalized cases on Tuesday actually tallied at 47.
“This discrepancy represented a misclassification of persons at the Sandilands Rehabilitation Center (SRC),” the Ministry of Health said.
“This institution is generally not designated as an acute care hospital or facility, rather a long term care facility.”
The ministry noted that the first positive COVID-19 person identified at SRC was on July 25 and contact tracing and further testing activities identified additional cases at this institution.
It said of the positive cases, 20 individuals had symptoms and counted as clinical inpatients or “hospitalized” case and were in isolation.
“These patients, although institutionalized, did not have to be hospitalized to receive a higher level of care,” the ministry added.
“With this in mind, the dashboard has been adjusted to reflect the total number of hospitalizations, inclusive of today’s tally, which is now being reported as 61.”
Of the confirmed cased in The Bahamas, there have been 880 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in New Providence, 507 in Grand Bahama, 45 in Bimini, 44 in Abaco, 14 in the Berry Islands, eight in Cat Island, six in Exuma, two in Inagua, four in Eleuthera, one in Andros, and 20 confirmed cases with locations pending.
Officials said the public will soon be updated with an epidemiological profile.
