Sands: Don’t Take Covid Surge Lightly

Former Minister of Health Dr. Duane Sands is warning Bahamians against taking the latest surge in COVID cases lightly.

He pointed to the detrimental impact it is already having on healthcare services.

The former health minister’s comments came just hours after Minister of Health and Wellness Dr. Michael Darville told reporters outside cabinet that more than 130 healthcare workers on New Providence and Grand Bahama are currently out of the system due to Covid exposure. He also noted that it is dangerous to assume that the uptick in cases is being driven by Omicron alone, and said the Delta variant, which might cause more severe illness, could also be contributing to the high case numbers. 

The Delta variant largely drove the third wave of infections in the Bahamas, which was the deadliest so far. Hundreds of Bahamians lost their lives as hospitals struggled to stay afloat under the pressure of the surge of severe cases.

Sands said it’s still too early to know whether the country could face that scenario again sometime soon. The Bahamas has confirmed record numbers of new Covid cases in the past two weeks.

Nearly 2,000 cases were confirmed in the last week, with 520 recorded on December 30 alone.