By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE country continued its downward trend in infections on Monday after only 39 new COVID cases were recorded, bringing the nation’s overall tally to 20,288 since the start of the pandemic.

According to data released by the Ministry of Health yesterday, 28 of those cases were in New Providence, 10 in Grand Bahama and one in Exuma.

Active COVID cases now stand at 1,623.

The day before saw only 34 new infections confirmed. The latest figures represent some of the lowest numbers reported since June.

Health officials were unable to speak on the nation’s declining COVID numbers when contacted for comment yesterday.

However, in a statement last week, the Ministry of Health acknowledged there has been a notable decrease in infections over the last several weeks, which they expect to be followed by a decline in the hospitalisation rate.

At the time, the ministry highlighted a graph that shows COVID-19 cases began to plateau during the first two weeks of August.

“It is noteworthy to mention that for the next four weeks or four reporting cycles, there was a decrease in the number of cases,” the ministry said. “This result has been the effect of the aggressive vaccination campaign implemented by the government. It was previously predicted that once a reasonable percentage of citizens and residents become vaccinated, such a result would be experienced.

“Even though there is a decrease in COVID-19 cases, hospitalisations continue to increase. It is expected that as the COVID-19 cases continue to decrease, there will be a decline in the hospitalisations reported. The Bahamas experienced a peak of 40 deaths during the week of August 22. As the cases continue to decrease, it is also expected that the number of deaths will decrease,” the Ministry of Health said.

In terms of virus-related deaths, health officials said 512 people have now died from the virus.

This comes after two New Providence women, aged 70 and 73, were added to the nation’s death toll for Monday’s data.

The Ministry of Health said the 73-year-old died on September 9, while the 70-year-old died on September 20.

Meanwhile, there are 165 hospitalised cases, 21 of whom are in the intensive care unit.

Despite the declining numbers, health officials have warned that cases could increase in the days ahead as a result of recent election activities.

Bahamians are therefore urged to remain on guard.

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.