By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Nurses Union President Amancha Williams has said the government must act now before it’s too late to avoid a potential third wave of COVID-19.

Her comments came after an additional 15 cases were confirmed on Sunday, pushing the nation’s total count to 9,091. The day before saw 42 new cases, bringing last week’s total to 167.

Yesterday, the BNU president said the union would not be against tighter restrictions as she labelled the uptick in cases as “concerning”. She warned about the likelihood of a third COVID wave if Bahamians become relaxed about the current health rules and let their guards down.

An official from the Consultant Physicians Staff Association also raised alarm to The Tribune yesterday about the increasing figures.

Pointing to a number of recent large gatherings, Ms Williams said: “You still have some people who are not following the rules and regulations because you still have some parties going on and people are not being cautious, you know.

“You can’t have (a) party and can’t still want to be campaigning and you’re trying to vaccinate everybody, so you still have to use precaution. If you’re vaccinated, you still have to use precaution until there is a percentage of our people vaccinated.”

Ms Williams said the situation is particularly worrisome because the union has also seen cases of re-infection among some nurses.

She said: “It is a great concern not only for the government but also for the healthcare system. We’ve seen a number of our nurses being re-infected and we’re still here battling with complications that happened with particular nurses that contracted COVID during the time of the pandemic, so we still have nurses out with several complications so that raises a concern.

“…In Abaco, you had six nurses who were on quarantine and so the clinic was exposed and so we’ve had six nurses out and then we had to bring these nurses from Nassau to compensate for that shortage to also ensure that healthcare services are still being offered you know.”

Asked if the uptick in cases and hospitalisations is starting to place a strain on the healthcare system, Ms Williams replied: “I wouldn’t say it’s a strain but it’s something to look at and start planning against. It’s giving you a heads up that something is going on and this is evidence that this COVID is still here.”

Health officials said they have observed a “marked increase” on several islands since January, particularly New Providence, Grand Bahama and Abaco.

The Tribune understands the rise in virus-related cases and hospitalisations has also sparked discussions among government officials over whether certain islands may now need tighter restrictions.

Asked whether the BNU would support tighter restrictions for certain communities, Ms Williams said the group will not oppose the idea so long as it safeguards the country against the COVID-19 threat.

However, she said the government must also learn to strike an economic and health balance.

“I don’t have a problem with that if it that is securing the healthcare of this nation and the economy of this nation because when you look at it, we (are going to have) more COVID than we have tourists so that is what the union is saying,” she said.

“What we don’t want to instill is at the end of the day, not to open up the economy because we really have to live with this and think about what we’re doing to ensure that we live with this in a safe manner until we get most people vaccinated.

“So, the government needs to strike a balance and how do we do that to prevent the third wave? We have to act now and be proactive because this is a key that we could get into a third wave and so now, we have to be proactive.”

For his part, CPSA vice president, Dr John Dillett said the union would need more details on what sort of restrictions are being considered at this time before lending their support or making a final decision on the matter.

He said the group has yet to be consulted by the government on the way forward or any other related COVID-19 issues.

“Last year, when we were in the throes of the crisis, we had regular meetings with the prime minister and the minister of health regarding the strategy moving forward and how to deal with the pandemic,” he told this newspaper.

“That has since fallen by the wayside. I’m not as sure as to why that has stopped but now, we see potential of a third wave starting and again we have had no direct consultation or communication with those entities determining a way forward and a plan forward.”

The country is still awaiting results from some 52 COVID test samples sent abroad earlier this year to determine if any of the new virus strains are presently in country.

Yesterday, Dr Dillett said it’s a matter officials are continuing to closely monitor and await word on.

“I don’t want to say that we are experiencing a third wave but what we do know, however, is that many jurisdictions are presently going through a third and fourth wave. Certainly, the uptick in cases is concerning,” he said.

“We need to know exactly how many people we’re testing. Are we able to test for variants before we know for sure if we are in the third wave, but certainly it’s a concern that cases are moving upwards.”

He added: “ …Persons are travelling to many parts of the world and returning. We’re having lots of visitors from various parts of the world coming in as well and because we don’t have the means to test effectively, it’s difficult to say for sure what we’re experiencing.

“But absolutely, the CPSA remains concerned about the general well-being of the public regarding the pandemic and the possibility of variants coming in from various parts of the world.”