By PAVEL BAILEY

A LOCAL infectious disease expert said while The Bahamas has successfully flattened the curve on the most recent COVID wave, people should still wear their masks.

Dr Nikkiah Forbes, director of the National HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease Programme at the Ministry of Health, discussed how the country had successfully lowered the rate of COVID-19 infections in the Omicron wave and said that the nation had finally “flattened” the curve.

“At this time the number of cases per day and the average number of cases per week are down, we have flattened the fourth COVID wave,” she said in a recent interview with The Tribune.

Dr Forbes also said that healthcare workers are “happy” with the current low number of COVID cases, noting that hospital cases are also low.

However, while she sees the current trend in cases as encouraging, she believes that COVID cases will “flare up” and settle down again periodically. Dr Forbes said COVID is “here to stay”.

Still, she stressed that the world is in a much better place two years into the COVID pandemic than at the beginning with vaccines to reduce the risk of disease have been administered and doctors have successfully identified ways to track how the virus spreads.

In addition to highlighting the fact that therapies have been made available to help people who contract COVID-19, Dr Forbes said that the time to classify the response to the pandemic as an emergency has ended, but the coronavirus reality remains.

“So, we know a lot more, we are in a much better place than when this new virus broke out for the first time two years ago and people had no immunity and people were dying,” she said. “So, two years in you can no longer refer to it as responding to an emergency; COVID is here to stay. We have to have guidelines and precautions whereby we can have normal life continue. And so, what can people do to protect themselves? You should still wear your mask.”

The government recently announced that people will not be required to wear a face mask while in a lobby, corridor or casino of a hotel or while in an outdoor setting where there is three feet spacing.

However, Dr Forbes spoke about how mask wearing is still the most effective method of COVID prevention.

“We still know that mask wearing works and it’s scientifically proven and there are a lot of studies to support that, that if it's universally adhered to, meaning that everyone is doing it indoors and in crowds particularly, it can cut down the risk of COVID transmission by 53 percent.”

Although Dr Forbes acknowledged that some countries have ended the requirement to wear masks indoors like in the UK and US, she also noted that these countries have a far higher vaccination coverage (around 70 percent) compared to the Bahamas. She noted that as of February 26, only 161,916 persons were fully vaccinated putting The Bahamas vaccination coverage at only around 41 percent.

Dr Forbes recommended that more people get vaccinated as it reduces the risk of serious hospitalisation. She said the country needs to aim for higher coverage to cut down the potential pressure on healthcare systems in future waves.

“Avoiding crowds and keeping your distance at least three feet between persons, if you are sick stay home, I have to keep saying these over and over again, those are the measures that we know can help to reduce COVID transmission,” she said. “Overall, we should continue to adhere to mask mandates in public transportation and in indoor spaces at this time.”

Daily case counts have been in the low single digits recently.

As of March 16, 786 people had died from COVID-19. Nine new deaths were reported in the Ministry of Health’s March 16 release while four deaths were reported in its March 15 release. The deaths occurred between January and February.