DOWN BUT NOT OUT: Virus cases drop 8% even with increased testing but positivity rate still high – EyeWitness News

Hospitalizations see sharp, 76% increase in last two weeksWe are very much in the third wave

NASSAU, BAHAMAS The number of coronavirus cases reported last week dropped by eight percent, in spite of an increase in COVID-19 testing last week by just shy of 500 tests compared to the previous week.

From July 6 to July 12, there were 291 confirmed cases of the virus.

Between June 28 and July 5, there were 317 newly confirmed infections.

But a look at testing for the virus over the two periods showed a 20 percent increase in testing, with 2,887 tests completed in the last week compared to the 2,394 tests completed in the week prior.

The Bahamas remains in a third wave of the pandemic, with variant strains of the virus posing concerns for health officials.

According to an examination of COVID-19 dashboards, cases were down on New Providence, where the vast majority of cases have been observed.

In the last week, New Providence recorded 227 cases, compared to the 273 the week before.

This represents a 16 percent drop.

However, cases increased 29 percent on Grand Bahama, with 22 cases recorded last week compared to the 17 cases in the week prior.

While the marginal decrease in cases, if continued, could be suggestive of movement toward flattening the curve, the 291 cases in the last week represent 41 cases per day on average far from the low, single-digit figures observed in January and February when The Bahamas had exited its second wave.

The cases in the last two weeks a combined 608 infections still soar well above the number of cases recorded in January and February, which had 336 cases and 335 cases respectively.

Cases nearly doubled in March, with 612 cases.

There were more than 1,200 cases recorded in April.

In an interview with Eyewitness News yesterday, Director of the National HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease Programme Dr Nikkiah Forbes said The Bahamas remains in the third wave and it is not going to an end.

The curve is not significantly flat on that, she said.

As a matter of fact, in the last week, the epidemiological week or the trend that we report on, there was actually a slight uptick in the number of cases.

There has definitely been an increase in the number of hospitalizations.

And deaths are also continuing.

And the percent of positives out of the tests that are done is also increased in that last week.

So, it is very concerning and we are very much in the third wave.

Hospitalizations have increased 42 percent between June 28 and July 5 from 38 to 54, and increased a further 24 percent last week, July 6-12, from 54 to 67.

Of the 67 cases hospitalized as of Monday, there were five in the intensive care units at Princess Margaret Hospital, Doctors Hospital and South Beach Acute Care.

Meanwhile, the positivity rate between June 28 and July 5 stood at 13 percent on average.

In the last week, that figure dropped to 10 percent on average.

The World Health Organization recommends a five percent positivity rate for the reopening of countries.

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DOWN BUT NOT OUT: Virus cases drop 8% even with increased testing but positivity rate still high - EyeWitness News