And 192 cases yesterday Wednesday!

Back log on the weekend...when you review the data on biweekly rates the infection rate is flat. We have not a increase in the rate of infection for 8 weeks or so. Either because testing rate has maxed or because the virus has maxed out population infection at 20% - the posivity rate which has been the same more 2 months as well.

In other good news the WHO published a peer reviewed study that puts the IFR at 0.5 for under 70s. (Half The death rate of the flu for working age people). it’s over Minnis, MOH, you wasted 5 months of our lives, didnt really save any one, killed small business, killed the economy, possibly will kill a few more that would have got diagnosed or treatments but couldn’t because of lockdowns...probably messed with the life path of a few kids but hey you not alone. Just say sorry you made a mistake -‘how could you have known’ (it’s not like this study was First published back in may)...

https://www.who.int/bulletin/online_fir…

Sorry IFR of 0.05% - half flu rates

Whogothere you are talking foolishness. If we don’t clamp down on the behavior of our brothers and sisters, and their children, we will have a catastrophe of unprecedented and unparalleled proportions.

Just when you think we have this thing under control out it jumps with a second and more devastating infection rate.

Look at what is happening in Europe. Why do you think the English, French, Dutch and Spanish, to name a few nations, are reintroducing lockdowns and curfews? It is not to punish individuals, it is to save lives. Okay.

You, Tribanon, TarRussell and their ilk can spew all the foolishness you want but you are unable to escape the reality that facts are facts, statistics are statistics and no amount of political spin can alter them.

Why it so difficult to forego short term inconvenience for long progress?

Please let our P. M. And his Cabinet members do their jobs. They are not reinventing the wheel. God Bless you Prime Minister Minnis.

Why would you blame your brothers and sisters for catching an airborne pathogen? Power-hungry politicians all over the world have spent this whole year trying to invent the new wheel. They have locked us down. They have bullied us into inhumane behaviors. They have ruined our livelihoods. They have "invented" new rules every day and fined people for not observing them. And yet the virus has spread and reemerged and spread again and what ever any of these foolish new protocols that these people try invent - They want you to blame your brothers and sisters when they don't work ! And you believe their statistics....well I gotz a brand new coat of many colors to sell to you my brother

Am with you on this. Why are they always saying "to save lives"...and we all going to die. If covid-19 are for you. How are they going to save your life?

@topdude stop living in fear. This is one of many peer reviewed documents that are proving that this is overblown.20,000 medical professionals and scientist are all coming to the same conclusion - protect the old let the rest of society get on with it. And now The Who admits it - lockdowns don't work, they advise against it. Now they publish this document which reveals what we have been saying for months. COVID IFR are in the range of the flu less is if you are young, more if your old. It's a mild disease, lofted into panic. It's over England, Denmark, France - cases up but death aren't. It's all political. It's done. Get over it.

Your argument is circular. The lockdowns have ruined our tourism but your excuse for further lockdowns is a lack of tourism? I would also like to know what comprehensive, historically proven, scientific evidence that you are drawing from that would suggest that a two-week total lockdown will do anything to save lives in the long run ? Therte is plenty of scientific data out there now that suggests that if we do nothing at all, the outcome will remain the same ....

No - the argument is that lockdown are doing more damage than they stop. And that medical impact of COVID has been glorified to the point no other medical conditions matter. In short the definition of public has been reduced to a singular threat to society - this is flawed on so many levels.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-o…

https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2020/09/24/coo…

https://theweek.com/speedreads/937870/c…

https://missionlocal.org/2020/10/overdo…

https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/loc…

https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-lock…

https://www.forbes.com/sites/gracemarie…

Me and you have been through this before Proud my friend. 80 cases when lockdown started 600 now - thats not a success! You funny! And meanwhile there is this...as the cost -

http://www.tribune242.com/news/2020/oct…

@happyfly No - the argument is that lockdown are doing more damage than they stop. And that the medical impact of COVID has been glorified to the point no other medical conditions matter. In short the definition of public has been reduced to a singular threat to society - this is flawed on so many levels.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19...">https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19...

https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2020/09/24/c...">https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2020/09/24/c...

https://theweek.com/speedreads/937870...">https://theweek.com/speedreads/937870...

https://missionlocal.org/2020/10/over...">https://missionlocal.org/2020/10/over...

https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/l...">https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/l...

https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-lo...">https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-lo...

https://www.forbes.com/sites/gracemar...">https://www.forbes.com/sites/gracemar...

The latest figures show that at least 112 Bahamians have perished due to COVID and there are 112 persons fighting for their lives in critical care. These are facts that don't need to be spun. It really doesn't matter what stats the WHO come out with - the only stats that matter are the ones I have just quoted. I am no apologist for the government for they have made a number of stupid decisions, not least of which the decision to open up the airways on 1st July. Also, they continue to promote a new opening of 1st November. This is equally stupid - we don't tell the virus when we open, the virus tells us! That said, the current measures are clearly not sufficient for the country to get on top of the situation. The current weekend lock down situation is akin to going to the doctor for a course of antibiotics and stopping the meds half way through! If we are going to get serious about defeating this contagion then we surely need to go the whole hog and introduce a planned two week total lock down to get the numbers back to a manageable level. If we can't get the infection rate down to single digits then track and trace efforts will be a waste of time. If the government does decide a prolonged lock down is necessary then this is surely the time to do it. There are few tourists visiting anyway, the major hotels are closed and the hospitals are overwhelmed. Take a full course of treatment now and be done with it. If you don't like this idea then please let me have your alternative.

P.S. Any alternative that would result in a loss of many hundreds of Bahamian lives is not an alternative.

Here is another fact on average 2500, Bahamians die each year. Roughly 208 each month, roughly 48 each week around 7 per day. We're not aware of it because there is not daily reports or dashboard which demand the attention on it. Covid has not vastly increased these rates and are often subset of people that were potentially to going to die already, because thats how the disease works but the response to this has likely potential to do so if things are not changed. That is why understanding the true risk (IFR) is so important. The fact The WHO finally recognizing the this is huge. Every time there is lockdown that prohibits travel people that need cancer treatments or diagnosis can't get them. This has been going on for 5 months now. The impact of this will be more death later. But people like you are not considering this only looking at the panic in front of you and not questioning it.

So what is your alternative strategy? You can't surely be suggesting we remove all restrictions and let the virus run wild? COVID may not have vastly increased death rates over the last six months but the trajectory would be dire if we open everything up with no plan. PMH is currently overwhelmed. Is that not a concern for you? Also, it is being reported that many people across the world are suffering long term complications after "recovering" from COVID. So we cannot focus simply on death rates.

I think common sense protocols must prevail. In the presence of the old and the sick do everything physically possible to prevent/limit risk of infection. Wash hands, wear masks if you like, don’t be in the same room in you any symptoms, take a rapid test if you visit an care facility.. Doing these do not impact the rest of society, but will help more than lockdowns, quarentines, and other restriction. Additionally We’ve creating over-demand for hospital beds because the people have been told this is virus is a death sentence. So even if they can recover at home people are freaking out if they test positive or have any symptoms. Often cases o2 and bed rest and immune boosters do the trick. Finally we need honesty on the hospitalized cases. Right now if you check into PM with a broken leg and test positive you’re in the hospitalized cases. There is a difference between being put in hospital because of COVID and if you happen to have covid when something unrelated did the damage. ‘Long COVID’ is not killing people it’s a small minority of the cases, preventing people with other diseases from getting care and diagnostics does kill people. Economic depression does kill people through crime, drug abuse and suicide. Altering the life path of children by preventing learning at critical point will affect their life outcomes and potential. The implications of over reacting of to COVID are more severe than the disease itself which is roughly the same as the flu (even without a vaccine).

And if I wasn’t clear yes we need to open up and because the virus is going to virus regardless of anything we do.

Studies offer new evidence for possible link between blood type and COVID-19 susceptibility
Individuals with blood type O may have lowest risk of infection; individuals with A and AB may have increased risk of severe clinical outcomes

Sorry Proud they don't...try again! Lockdowns are advised for the start of outbreak to limit spread and not to overwhelm the health systems. When done later they don't make slightest bit of difference. In 2018 flu killed 80k in the US and that was with people getting vaccines, but they don't count the flu like COVID - they don't fawn over death certificates hunting for cases. Not to mention according to cdc out of the 200k that perished only 6% died of covid directly. 94% had other things going on. More problematic for your argument is that you aren't refuting what we're comparing IFR - right now the flu is actually more dangerous to young people than COVID. Facts! Please by all means go to CDC website and prove me wrong.