NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Director of the National HIV/AIDS and Infectious Diseases Programme at the Ministry of Health Dr Nikkiah Forbes yesterday expressed concern about the continued increase in coronavirus cases, and indicated The Bahamas is still “very much in the second wave” of the virus.
“There are large numbers of new cases on certain days weekly, primarily in New Providence, but there are some islands that are still reporting cases and we’re still very much in the second wave,” Forbes told Eyewitness News.
“We’re still very much in the battle to fight COVID-19.”
Last week Wednesday, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said based on existing data, The Bahamas appears to be nearing the end of the second wave of cases.
“Thankfully, based on the data at hand, we appear to be nearing the end of our second wave of the pandemic,” Minnis advised Parliament.
“But let me be clear: The second wave is not over,” he added.
A number of islands, particularly in the southern Bahamas have not recorded new cases in weeks.
Eyewitness News reported Wednesday that new cases increased 35 percent in the last two weeks of September.
Between September 20 and September 26, there were 523 recorded cases of the virus. During the period September 13 through September 19, there were 387 new cases.
The majority of those cases were recorded in New Providence.
“New Providence has not flattened the curve,” Forbes continued.
“There are a number of cases. It’s concerning. When we look at the strategy for COVID-19 it has to be multi-sectorial and there have to be key things that are done to build capacity and to help to flatten the curve.
“Those things include having accessible, available testing, robust contract tracing surveillance systems, perhaps other surveillance systems, perhaps other surveillance systems to detect disease in-country; COVID bed capacity, physician and nurse capacity, institutional capacity; and the need for field hospitals.”
“We also have to consider other things that may potentially worsen the situation such as relaxing of restrictive measures, borders opening. So, all of that has to be balanced. It is very concerning that there are a number of cases being reported every day and that hospitals are at capacity and that we are having ongoing deaths. This behooves us to continue to strengthen the work that we are doing…”
She added: “The battle is not over. I would say that with decision making and the decisions that policymakers have to enact, enable, and enforce, we the general population and what we do is also very, very important.”
Lockdown
Forbes pointed out said Grand Bahama, which experienced a surge of cases in August, has not flattened its curve.
The island has sporadically reported cases in recent weeks.
The island recorded 10 cases in the last week.
Grand Bahama underwent a two-week lockdown.
The measure was extended for another week amid a continued rise in cases.
While the prime minister announced an immediate and complete two-week lockdown for New Providence, the decision was reversed a day later after widespread protest over the lack of time given to prepare.
At the time, cases in New Providence stood at over 800.
As of yesterday, there were nearly 3,100 cases in New Providence.
But the prime minister has said he does not envision future complete lockdowns, though partial lockdowns could occur in particular communities identified as a hotspot.
Forbes said: “In my view restrictions and the lockdown happened at a relatively early period and it was longer than the lockdown in New Providence, and the population was compliant based on the feedback I am hearing from persons, colleagues, and doctors who work in Grand Bahama. And Grand Bahama reaped the rewards of that. It definitely played a role in the curve flattening in Grand Bahama.
“On the contrary, New Providence had a lockdown. It was for two weeks, and I wouldn’t say it was very effective. A lot of people were moving around. There was a lot of traffic on the road. There were certain provisions made for food, groceries, and that sort of thing and there was quite a bit of traffic that may have contributed to the ongoing spread. The lockdown was also shorter.”
Forbes said based on the virology of COVID-19, a two-week partial lockdown was too short, but challenging decisions were made to balance the economy, socialization, and health.
She said when restrictive measures are relaxed to allow for the economy to continue, there is more reliance placed on “individual responsibility and for people to follow the public health measures, which can work when they are applied correctly, consistently and [followed] by the majority of the population”.
As it relates to a partial lockdown of specific communities, Forbes said the spread of the virus appears to stretch from eastern to western New Providence, and to date, a specific area has stood out far beyond others.
However, she said it could be an effective measure to restrict movement in an area.
The Ministry of Health is hosting a COVID-19 press conference at 3pm.
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