By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

MINISTRY of Health officials have reported 116 new cases of COVID-19 and 22 virus-related deaths, bringing the nation’s overall tally to 20,030.

According to data released in its September 16 dashboard, the bulk of the new cases — 108 — were in New Providence.

Five new cases were reported for Grand Bahama, one each for Eleuthera and Andros while another case was listed with location pending.

Thursday’s cases pushed the nation’s confirmed total to 20,030 – with 1,662 infections still active.

In terms of virus deaths, the Ministry of Health said 504 people have now died from the virus. A further 29 deaths still remain under investigation, however.

The latest deceased victims include fourteen New Providence residents, seven Grand Bahama residents and one resident from Eleuthera. Their ages range from 32 to 99 years old.

Two of those deaths occurred last month – on August 24 and 25 respectively – while the remaining twenty took place between September 4 to September 14.

Meanwhile, 176 COVID-19 patients are still in hospital, 21 of whom are in the intensive care unit.

The news comes after thousands of Bahamians on Thursday gathered to the polls to cast their votes, many of whom who later took to the streets to celebrate after the Progressive Liberal Party was declared the unofficial winner of 2021 general elections.

Health unions have repeatedly expressed concern that the political activities will be super-spreader events.

“We’ve seen in other countries that they’ve had elections and it caused insurmountable increases in COVID cases and we already cannot handle what we’re having happen right now,” Dr Sabriquet Pinder-Butler, president of the Consultant Physicians Staff Association, told The Tribune last month.

“So, this is extremely concerning and frightening for us as a healthcare team knowing that we’re already more than beyond deep in the battle of what we’re having and trying to save lives and now we know that elections have been called and we know what tends to come along with that so it's very concerning.”

To contain the spread of COVID-19, residents are reminded of the following: if you have symptoms, contact your health provider; while home remedies may work for a period it is important to get tested and receive the proper care before symptoms become too difficult to manage; if you have been asked by the Surveillance Unit to get tested for COVID-19, please follow the advice and take the gold standard RT-PCR test.