By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

HEALTH and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville said he expects his ministry will soon receive the test results of “hundreds” of COVID-19 samples sent abroad to confirm the Omicron variant’s presence even as cases decline in the country.

“We are looking forward to having that concluded in short order,” Dr Darville said when asked about the issue yesterday. “Today I (will) speak with our National Reference Lab and we’ve sent (a) couple hundred samples to a lab in Panama and I’ve been petitioning the company to get the results as soon as possible.”

As officials await confirmation, Dr Darville said he had no doubt the variant was the predominant strain of the virus infecting people in The Bahamas.

He said this was based on preliminary reports made from the National Reference Laboratory.

COVID infections skyrocketed since the country entered its fourth wave in late December and even reached a single day record of 818 in early January.

However, in recent days, local infections have fallen considerably, with cases once again being recorded in the double digits.

According to the Ministry of Health, only 26 new cases of the virus were confirmed on Saturday, while 67 were recorded on Friday.

Dr Darville said while the low numbers were a positive sign, it was too early to tell whether the country was nearing the end of the fourth wave.

He said: “We’re watching the numbers very closely. It’s good to report that the numbers are going down. For us, that’s a sign but COVID is a very invasive pandemic and so we are mindful that even though we are seeing positive signs, we are positioned to execute additional protocols to pushback in this fourth wave, but I am pleased that today we’re seeing the signs that we’ve been working forward to over the last few months.”

Yesterday, the minister also could not say when the paediatric vaccine doses for children will be in the country.

Calls for broader vaccine coverage, particularly among children, comes as COVID-19 concerns mount following the return of face-to-face learning in schools last week.

Acknowledging those concerns yesterday, Dr Darville told reporters that the government is doing all it can to acquire the special doses for children.

“I don’t have a date but we, the vaccination committee as well as foreign affairs, are petitioning many countries so that we could get the paediatric vaccines in The Bahamas,” Dr Darville said.

The health minister’s comments came at the sidelines of an event hosted by Bahamas Waste yesterday, which saw a handful of lucky staff members win cash prizes in a COVID-19 vaccine raffle drawing.

At yesterday’s event, Dr Darville thanked company executives for helping to get more Bahamians vaccinated in the fight against COVID.

“It’s good to be here at Bahamas Waste and I want to thank the management team here. The management team here has gotten the message. They have been working very close with our vaccination committee and the key is basically for Bahamians to be vaccinated,” he said.

“We know that vaccinations save lives and individuals who are vaccinated who unfortunately get COVID-19, they very seldom end up in hospital, so I want to thank Bahamas Waste, the executive management team and the staff for coming to the call and working closely with the vaccination committee to demonstrate to the Bahamian people that vaccination for COVID-19 is the way to go.”

Bahamas Waste Managing Director Francisco de Cardenas added: “We want to thank the vaccine committee and everyone that’s been involved to either educate and make people understand the importance of getting the vaccine... and we will continue to plug away and hope that we can get 100 percent vaccine compliance so we can get over this and live our lives.”