The Ministry of Health & Wellness wishes to advise that it has been informed that the Royal Bahamas Defense Force has activated the isolation of eleven (11) officers who tested positive for COVID-19 by the rapid antigen test (RAT) at its base in Inagua. The isolation measure was undertaken after one (1) of the officers who had recently travelled with the group of 22 persons and presented with symptoms of COVID-19 and tested positive using the Rapid Antigen Test (RAT); the remaining eleven (11) persons in the group are asymptomatic or showing no symptoms were also tested and had negative results via RAT. Only one (1) of the eleven (11) officers that tested positive is unvaccinated.
The public is advised that the Ministry of Health & Wellness contacted the Defense Force to gain insight as to the rationale behind their actions and have been advised that the protocols taken were peculiar to the situation at the base in Inagua. The public is advised that the
decision to institute the measures undertaken at the base in Inagua by the Royal Bahamas Defense Force were precautionary on their part and not consistent with, nor taken in consultation with, nor at the direction of the Ministry of Health & Wellness.
The steps taken by the Royal Bahamas Defense Force are not in keeping with the Ministry’s recommendations for the general public as it pertains to the management of COVID-19.
However, the Ministry is working with the Royal Bahamas defense Force to assist it with revising its protocols and lending additional support.
The public is further advised that there is no lockdown in place or planned by the Ministry of Health & Wellness in Inagua or anywhere else in The Bahamas.
Further, the Ministry of Health & Wellness does not recommend screening for COVID-19 in asymptomatic individuals. COVID-19 testing is only recommended for persons who are symptomatic for COVID-19. Symptomatic persons who test positive using the rapid antigen test
and are unvaccinated should be isolated. Symptomatic persons who test positive for COVID-19 using the rapid antigen test and are vaccinated should have a confirmatory PCR test performed for diagnostic purposes. Any person exposed to a positive case of COVID-19 should wear a mask and use additional preventative precautions. If vaccinated, no quarantine is recommended. If unvaccinated, consider practicing quarantine measures with the wearing of a mask and using additional preventative precautions for three days.
As of Monday January 22nd, this year, the total number of new reported COVID-19 cases for the year is 66 as compared to 237 cases for the month of January 2023. Hospitalizations are down to six (6) from fourteen (14) a week ago with five (5) patients receiving care at the Rand Memorial Hospital and one (1) at the Princess Margaret Hospital. The total Deaths Under Investigation (DUI) for the period December 2023 to date is six (6).
Although the end of COVID-19 as a public health emergency of international concern was announced by the World Health Organization Director in May 2023, it is important to remember that COVID-19 has not disappeared. The recent increase in cases necessitates a renewed
personal commitment to ongoing vigilance and responsible behaviour. The Bahamas has not activated a mask mandate, except at hospitals and healthcare facilities, but persons who are immunocompromised or are feeling unwell are encouraged to wear a mask.
The public is reminded that practicing good respiratory hygiene and hand hygiene, wearing masks, maintaining physical distance, testing, and vaccination are some of the essential practices that can significantly reduce transmission rates as we live with COVID-19.
