By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

ROYAL Bahamas Defence Force Commodore Raymond King is still experiencing mild symptoms after being exposed to COVID-19, however test results have not yet come back to determine if he has the disease.

“Results aren’t back as yet. We’re waiting for those PCR results. At this time, we are still pending his result,” force medical officer, Lieutenant Commander Dr Derwin Johnson told The Tribune.

News of the Commodore’s exposure was revealed in a Cabinet Office statement on Sunday. The statement noted he was experiencing “mild symptoms” and that Deputy Commander Captain Shonedel Pinder will manage the affairs of the RBDF during Commodore King’s absence.

When asked if there was an improvement in the commodore’s condition, Dr Johnson replied: “Oh yes…. very mild symptoms and he is on some immune support like the vitamins and so forth and he’s just resting comfortably at home.”

Asked how many people on the force are quarantined due to exposure, Dr Johnson said more than 30, however he said they were not all connected to one incident.

“. . .We have persons who have been exposed from home contacts in terms relatives, persons in their homes. You have persons who have been exposed from social contacts in terms of friends and so forth. So, there’s not all one scenario.

“If you’re looking for a total of persons who are in quarantine at this moment, those persons would total about 35.”

Asked if he was able to say how many officers were in quarantine in relation to the RBDF commander and were in contact with the same person as Commodore King, Dr Johnson answered,“No, because we don’t know who that contact was.”

The Commodore was the first RBDF personnel to receive the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in March.

The force medical officer previously reported 80 people were vaccinated at the RBDF base when it was an inoculation site.