By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

ABOUT 600 people have been tested for COVID-19, Health Minister Dr Duane Sands said yesterday, adding health officials are hoping to test “several hundred more” by the end of the week.

His comments came after Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis announced on Sunday the Ministry of Health will expand testing for COVID-19 this week, which could result in a sharp increase in cases.

“As testing expands,” Dr Minnis said, “more people will be diagnosed with COVID-19 in The Bahamas, including those with mild symptoms. The Ministry of Health plans to expand testing this week. This will result in an increase in the number of cases.”

While noting people at higher risk for COVID-19 are being tested by health workers first, Dr Sands told reporters yesterday that as officials continue to “liberalise the indications for testing”, more testing will be conducted in the country.

He said: “… The high-risk persons are the ones that we’ve been testing first and so as we liberalise the indications for testing, you’ll see more people getting tested. So as of yesterday, I believe, we were probably up to some 600 or so tests and we expect to get perhaps several hundred more (tested) by the end of the week. It’s making sure that every single step along the way, that you have the swabs, that you have the viral media, that you have the test kits, that you have the reagents for the lab, that you have the personnel, the transportation to get it from the family islands to New Providence and so on and so forth.

“And some of it may require that we expand how we do it and potentially use other reference laboratories in other countries to get some of the RT-PCR testing done.”

Last week, health officials, using an exponential regression analysis model, had projected 90 cases by Easter Sunday but up to Monday, there were only 49 confirmed cases in the country, with nearly 500 persons in quarantine.

While agreeing the country is making progress against the COVID-19 threat, Dr Sands said it’s still “too early to tell” whether the country has reached its peak of cases or has seen a flattening in the curve. “We have some encouraging signs. We’re hoping and praying that this is consistent but, we cannot be presumptuous. Let’s see how this goes. We don’t get too many shots at this,” he noted.

“We want to do it right. We are mindful of the challenges on human beings. We are mindful of the impact on the economy and this balancing act is a very important balancing act.”

One challenge, previously noted by the health minister, for officials in this fight included the availability of size friendly isolation tubes. The containment tubes are used to transport infected patients.

The absence of isolation chambers and other critical medical supplies sparked concerns about the readiness of Family Islands for COVID-19 after Bimini resident Kim Johnson-Rolle died from complications related to the infectious disease last month. The delay in getting her from Bimini to Nassau, where she later died, was attributed to a lack of the isolation tube.

Noting the country now has about six isolation tubes, Dr Sands said: “We are looking into seeing whether we could have something custom made, but that obviously is a very different process. And in the meantime, we have to plan a very different approach.”

“These are the real challenges facing us… Purchasing medical equipment and supplies is not as simple as purchasing clothes. There are only limited suppliers that make devices for the morbidly obese, the super obese etc.”

Speaking to reporters yesterday, the health minister was also asked why officials were no longer using the Royal Bahamas Defence Force’s Coral Harbour Base as a healthcare facility for COVID-19 patients.

However, he said: “This is a rolling response, this is a moving target and we look at something today and it changes. What we’re trying to do is to respond in a way that’s effective, that’s impactful and to make sure that the response provides the best security and safety for Bahamians as far as their health.

“We are still discussing the possibility of a field hospital, but we thought it necessary to complete the part at Princess Margaret Hospital, the Grand Bahama - the Cancer Association in Grand Bahama - the South Beach health centre in New Providence, Doctors (Hospital) east, Doctors (Hospital) west and you see how that goes.

“If there is a demand for more, then we go ahead and build it out but remember, hurricane season is upon us and we have to focus on getting the Rand Memorial Hospital back up.”