The Chief Medical Officer, Dr Shawn Charles, is warning of a spike in the number of cases relating to COVID-19 and other respiratory Infections.
As it relates to COVID-19, the report is that over last weekend, eight people were admitted to the Isolation Unit at the General Hospital.
“COVID has continued to be identified consistently throughout the period; COVID has always been there, it did not leave us,” warned Dr Charles during a media briefing on Wednesday.
He said from the weekly monitoring of the positive COVID cases, “those numbers have not changed much over the weeks except the last three weeks” where a steady increase was detected; 26 cases, then 42 then 71 in the third week.
Dr Charles said this increase caused the Ministry of Health of revisit its contingency plan to be able to manage any number of cases.
Meanwhile, he is reminding people that they still need to take precautions for prevention including taking the COVID-19 vaccines for added protection.
To mitigate the spread of COVID-19,, the chief medical officer is encouraging the wearing of masks, practicing proper hand hygiene, and people with cold symptoms should isolate as much as possible.
In addition, he is encouraging people to cough into their clothing or tissue, properly dispose tissue, wash hands after coughing or use hand sanitizers.
Another area of concern Dr Shawn Charles reported is that at the start of this year Acute Respiratory Infections (ARIs) numbers have been “above the long-term average or what the expected levels should be.” He added, “Earlier in the year we had a spike in cases and we continue to monitor and test to understand what the causes are.”
Without providing statistics, the CMO said that there was an initial spike in the first quarter, a slight lull then a “dramatic rise” in cases but both periods of spike were due to different viruses.
Dr Charles said the spike in the first quarter was due to common viruses that cause the common cold that people get over quickly “but later we had the introduction of the H1N1 influenza and a virus called respiratory syncytial virus.” Both viruses, he said cause ARIs but the infections are more severe compared to the routine common cold viruses.
In addition, the chief medical officer said the second spike was also due to the Influenza B virus.
He explained that influenza is a respiratory virus that spreads through the air when one coughs or sneezes. It can also be spread by touching contaminated surfaces then eyes, nose or mouth.
Symptoms include sore throat, congestion, coughing, runny nose, aches and pains; and can cause severe lung infection that can develop into pneumonia.
Dr Charles is encouraging people, especially those with chronic illnesses to visit any health facility to receive the annual seasonal flu vaccine at no cost, that protects against influenza A and B.
Spike in COVID-19 cases
The Chief Medical Officer, Dr Shawn Charles, is warning of a spike in the number of cases relating to COVID-19 and other respiratory Infections.
As it relates to COVID-19, the report is that over last weekend, eight people were admitted to the Isolation Unit at the General Hospital.
“COVID has continued to be identified consistently throughout the period; COVID has always been there, it did not leave us,” warned Dr Charles during a media briefing on Wednesday.
He said from the weekly monitoring of the positive COVID cases, “those numbers have not changed much over the weeks except the last three weeks” where a steady increase was detected; 26 cases, then 42 then 71 in the third week.
Dr Charles said this increase caused the Ministry of Health of revisit its contingency plan to be able to manage any number of cases.
Meanwhile, he is reminding people that they still need to take precautions for prevention including taking the COVID-19 vaccines for added protection.
To mitigate the spread of COVID-19,, the chief medical officer is encouraging the wearing of masks, practicing proper hand hygiene, and people with cold symptoms should isolate as much as possible.
In addition, he is encouraging people to cough into their clothing or tissue, properly dispose tissue, wash hands after coughing or use hand sanitizers.
Another area of concern Dr Shawn Charles reported is that at the start of this year Acute Respiratory Infections (ARIs) numbers have been “above the long-term average or what the expected levels should be.” He added, “Earlier in the year we had a spike in cases and we continue to monitor and test to understand what the causes are.”
Without providing statistics, the CMO said that there was an initial spike in the first quarter, a slight lull then a “dramatic rise” in cases but both periods of spike were due to different viruses.
Dr Charles said the spike in the first quarter was due to common viruses that cause the common cold that people get over quickly “but later we had the introduction of the H1N1 influenza and a virus called respiratory syncytial virus.” Both viruses, he said cause ARIs but the infections are more severe compared to the routine common cold viruses.
In addition, the chief medical officer said the second spike was also due to the Influenza B virus.
He explained that influenza is a respiratory virus that spreads through the air when one coughs or sneezes. It can also be spread by touching contaminated surfaces then eyes, nose or mouth.
Symptoms include sore throat, congestion, coughing, runny nose, aches and pains; and can cause severe lung infection that can develop into pneumonia.
Dr Charles is encouraging people, especially those with chronic illnesses to visit any health facility to receive the annual seasonal flu vaccine at no cost, that protects against influenza A and B.
