There has been an almost 100 per cent increase in new COVID-19 cases recorded in Barbados overnight, but health officials say there is no need to panic.
Indicating that the increase was likely due to the BA.2 Omicron sub-variant, officials disclosed that samples would be sent off to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) in Trinidad and Tobago for confirmation.
There were 432 new COVID-19 cases from 1,715 tests conducted on Monday, April 4. This is up from the 222 new COVID-19 cases from 884 tests carried out on Sunday, April 3. The total number of active cases is just over 2,000.
There has also been an increase in the number of individuals in isolation who are experiencing worsening conditions and have to be moved from the green to yellow category under the traffic light system.
Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Anton Best provided an update on the situation during a press conference on Tuesday, noting that the increase in positive COVID-19 cases started from around March 28.
He said: “In the last eight days we have diagnosed approximately 2,000 infections. The reproductive number is 1.5 which simply means that one infected case can lead to 1.5 cases or two persons who are infected can lead to three. So it is growing.
“These are all indicators signalling there is growth of the epidemic. Positivity rate over the last seven days is 22 per cent and the daily average of new cases is 245. The number of admissions seen at the Harrison’s Point Facility has increased significantly,” he said.
Best said while it could be reasonably assumed that the BA.2 Omicron sub-variant was responsible for the uptick in cases, officials here were preparing to send samples for confirmation.
He indicated that there have been “some real logistical issues” in terms of sending the samples. He noted that by Thursday the samples could be sent and “if we are lucky, we could get those results back in a week”.
Dr. Best said there were still some clusters in some institutions, but he opted not to provide details.
Stating that the BA.2 Omicron sub-variant was “not a distinct variant of concern”, he stressed the need for vaccination and boosting and the continued following of the protocols including the wearing of masks, sanitisation and proper hand hygiene and physical distancing.
Fifty-six per cent of the total population is considered vaccinated and 45 per cent of the eligible population has received the booster shot. The acting CMO said officials were looking at the possibility of changing the definition of who is considered fully vaccinated at the COVID-19 virus.
During the media event, Head of Isolation Facility Dr Corey Forde said there were 75 people at the Harrison’s Point Isolation Facility – 23 males and 52 females. Of those 10 were in primary isolation with seven on ventilators. Only two of those individuals are vaccinated, he added.
Dr. Forde said over the past week admission numbers have increased almost 50 per cent, adding that majority of them were asthmatics.
Encouraging people with asthma and other respiratory conditions to present themselves early for COVID-19 testing and assessment, Forde expressed disappointment that a number of people were still waiting even after four or five days with symptoms.
He also pleaded with Barbadians to continue to care for the elderly, as he expressed sadness at the number of elderly, unvaccinated people presenting for treatment.
Meanwhile, Dr. Adanna Grandison, Consultant Manager of the Home Quarantine programme, reported that there were currently just over 2,000 people in home isolation.
Stressing the need for vaccination and boosting, she said while it helped to minimise the possibility of getting severely ill, the vaccination was also critical to decrease the chances of individuals developing complications associated with long-COVID.
“So far, in our home isolation we continue to have the predominant number of persons being in green. However, we are noticing an increase in the number of persons becoming yellow,” she said.
Individuals in the yellow category are those with mild to moderate symptoms and have known underlying medical conditions or risk factors. Individuals in the green category are those without symptoms or very mild symptoms.
Dr. Grandison explained that 503 people are now in the yellow category, adding that many of them were presenting with vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration and some respiratory-type symptoms.
“These are the types of persons we are saying we are very concerned about at this point and we want to monitor you a bit closer. It is also the group of persons who certainly have those risk factors,” said Grandison. marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb
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