13-day-old baby dies of COVID-19 in the Bahamas
A 13-day-old baby boy from New Providence, who died on January 7, was among the latest confirmed COVID victims in The Bahamas.
The newborn was one of three people confirmed to have died in Tuesday’s COVID update. The victims also included a 62-year-old man, who died on January 17, and a 34-year-old woman, who died on February 2, both from New Providence.
The death toll now stands at 756. Another 166 people have been confirmed to have died with COVID-19 but not because of it, while 47 deaths were still under investigation.
Twenty-three new cases were recorded in The Bahamas on Tuesday and 15 on Wednesday, as daily numbers continued to taper off after the recorded highs seen last month.
Of the new cases, 26 were on New Providence, four on Grand Bahama, three on Exuma, two on Abaco, two on Eleuthera and one on Andros.
Tuesday’s test positivity rate was 9.1 per cent, and Wednesday’s was four per cent.
The World Health Organization recommends a maximum rate of five per cent.
As of Wednesday, 62 people were hospitalised with COVID-19 in The Bahamas. Of them, 33 were in Princess Margaret Hospital, 10 in Doctors Hospital, and 19 in Grand Bahama Health Services.
Three people were in intensive care.
Former Minister of Health Dr Duane Sands said the deaths demonstrate the seriousness of COVID-19, even as the milder Omicron variant appears to be responsible for the majority of cases in the country. He said it is particularly worrying given that vaccinations have fallen off.
“When you see a death determined to be due to COVID, that is a deliberate decision,” Sands said.
“And it speaks to something that is totally outside the narrative that has made its way in this community that Omicron is no big deal and COVID is no big deal.”
He added, “A lot of the narrative just isn’t adding up. You’ve got babies dying of COVID. You’ve got thousands of active cases with a significant risk of long COVID, cardiovascular morbidity, heart failure, strokes, heart attack, and vaccinations have fallen off to almost nothing.
“I mean, last week we did 1,500 vaccinations, the week before, 2,800.
“The best week ever was in September when we did 23,000 vaccinations in a week.”
As of Saturday, 159,830 people were fully vaccinated in The Bahamas, representing roughly 40 per cent of the population.
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