Another 223 COVID infections recorded on Wednesday and Thursday
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Bahamas set another bleak milestone of 3,000-plus coronavirus cases in a single month, a record since the onset of the pandemic, with five days remaining in the month.
The most cases recorded in a single month previously was 2,612 cases in October 2020, the peak of the second wave of the virus in The Bahamas.
With a total of 223 infections recorded in the last two days, 161 on Wednesday and 62 on Thursday, total cases for the month stand at 3,020.
The confirmed infections this month represent a 15.6 percent increase.
There have also been 63 COVID deaths this month alone.
The Ministry of Health reported early yesterday morning that 11 people died between last week Friday and Monday.
With the exception of one case on Andros, all deaths were recorded on New Providence.
There were six women, ages 46, 54, 61, 61, 63 and 72; and five men ages, 60, 60, 62, 65 and 65, who died.
COVID-19 deaths have been pushed to 345.
In October 2020, there were 50 COVID-related deaths that month.
Hospitalizations also increased to 170, up from 168 on Wednesday and 147 on Tuesday.
“The Ministry of Health is saddened to see a total of 168 hospitalizations and 11 deaths reported in today’s COVID-19 report,” read the COVID-19 dashboard.
“This sharp increase in the number of hospitalizations and deaths is not to be taken lightly.”
Anissia-Lyvette Adams, who was hospitalized with COVID-19 at Doctor’s Hospital, is among the 170 hospitalized patients in the healthcare sector fighting COVID.
She has asked for financial help to continue the care that will allow her to breathe as she struggles with COVID, pneumonia.
In a Tweet, Adams wrote: “I am Doctor’s Hospital on oxygen; one of my lungs has collapsed due to COVID-19. I need your help with any fund for them to keep me in here, so that I can breathe.”
A Go Fund Me campaign has raised $2,000 of $20,000 needed for medical expenses.
The vast majority of the cases this month were recorded on New Providence, with 2,345 or 96 percent of cases on the island.
This month so far, a total of 196 cases were recorded on Grand Bahama; 151 on Abaco; 12 on Bimini and Cat Cay; 123 on Eleuthera; five on the Berry Islands; 91 of Exuma; 38 on Andros; 25 on Long Island; two on Cat Island; one on Mayaguana; two on San Salvador; and 29 with pending locations.
There were several far-flung islands that recorded zero cases this month, including Inagua, Acklins, Crooked Island and Ragged Island.
Of yesterday’s 62 cases, there were 52 on New Providence, three on Grand Bahama, two on Abaco, two on Exuma, two on Andors and one on Long Island.
With the upcoming general election, and campaigning, international health officials expect an uptick in COVID cases.
The government and other health officials have repeatedly called on the populous to get vaccinated, noting that hospitalizations and deaths have been exclusively among the unvaccinated, and receiving the jab is the best way to control the pandemic.
That appeal has also been made to healthcare professionals, of whom only 50 percent or so have become vaccinated, despite their increased risk of exposure to the virus.
As of Sunday, 129,017 COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered, with 55,291 people fully vaccinated.
This represents 32 percent of the population that has been vaccinated, and nearly 14 percent fully vaccinated.
Supplies of AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson are in-country, with an expectation to have a total of over 500,000 vaccine doses in the coming months.
Johnson & Johnson, a one-dose vaccine, is expected to be rolled out in the next phase of vaccinations on the Family Islands.
