By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Senior Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

HEALTH Minister Renward Wells said COVID-19 is like "Satan, roaming to and fro, seeking whom he may devour."

He made the comment during a speech in the House of Assembly. He provided few details about the surge of coronavirus cases the country has seen since the borders were reopened on July 1.

He told reporters on Wednesday that Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis will give a breakdown of the age, sex and travel history of recent COVID-19 cases but such specifics were not provided yesterday. Health officials provided limited details of new cases on Wednesday, however there is still a backlog of patient information yet to be released.

After the House of Assembly's sitting ended, he told The Tribune yesterday: "You have to realise what's going on. The volume of information that is coming in has to be correlated so there is lag.

"As you can see, the data is being updated on a daily basis in real time. I think the Bahamian people can expect to see that, we're going to seek to get the data out faster."

He could not say when the Ministry of Health will have its next press conference.

"We are now in a surge, which will get worse if we do not adhere to restrictive and public health measures, which must not be taken for granted," he said during his speech in Parliament. "This virus is much like Satan, roaming to and fro, seeking whom he may devour. We must do all that we can to save lives and avert countless infections with an aggressive and proactive offence. The devil is busy and the church is encouraged to say, 'Get thee behind me, Satan.'"

Meanwhile, former Health Minister Dr Duane Sands urged Mr Wells to prioritise increasing COVID-19 tests. He said testing is a challenge for patients within the hospital system.

"Unfortunately, just last night my partner was exposed to a patient with COVID-19 in the hospital and is now quarantined for 14 days," he said. "And so the ability of not just the country to test, but of our hospitals to test is paramount."

Dr Sands called on politicians to stop blaming people for the resurgence of COVID-19 cases.

"We have to acknowledge that it's not just the people of The Bahamas that's making mistakes," he said.

"It's not just the people who are not adhering to guidelines. We are all making mistakes. And I think as we move forward, let us look at this thing the way the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) looks at issues, in a non-accusatory fashion. When we look at things, let's see how we can do things better. We don't need to point fingers.

"So, not just the people who are not wearing masks; not just the people who are going to Florida, but perhaps our administration can do some things better. Perhaps are rules can be done a little bit better. Perhaps if we make certain decisions in different the outcome will be better. There is no 'me' in team. Together, everyone achieves more. We will not win this battle against COVID-19 unless we collectively work together to solve these problems."