“This last six weeks, more than 1,000 Bahamians have learned they have tested positive for the COVID virus,” said Davis, adding that he is now hospitalised.

“I am in hospital, receiving excellent care. My family and I thank you for the many prayers and well wishes we have received. We all owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the nurses, doctors and the healthcare workers who are working day and night. Please include them in your prayers also.

“One of [our] greatest strengths as a people, is how we care for each other. Let’s find new ways to prove this now. Look out for your neighbours. Buy an extra bag of groceries for a friend in need and check on someone who may need your support,” the 69-year-old Opposition Leader said.

“In God’s grace and blessings, may they continually be for The Bahamas. I know as we rely on God’s grace and blessings, I know brighter days are ahead for all of us. Thank you. I love you.”

Davis said PLP Senator Dr. Michael Darville had also been hospitalised.

“Today I wish to advise the public that I have tested positive for COVID-19,”  Darville said in a statement, adding “I would like to express my gratitude to the nurses and doctors at Doctors Hospital whose care I am currently in.

“I also wish to extend my sincere appreciation for the overwhelming support I’ve received from the Bahamian people. As a doctor myself, I must now take the advice I give to virtually all my patients and get some much needed rest,” he added.

Both Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis and his Deputy and Finance Minister, Peter Turnquest, were in quarantine after an employee in the building that houses their offices tested positive.

Minister of Education Jeffrey Lloyd said he had ended his quarantine last Friday.

Chairman of the ruling Free National Movement (FNM), Carl Culmer, is wishing both Davis and Darville a “speedy recovery”.

“We hope to have them back to full health in the shortest time possible. On the democratic political battlefield, there are rough but peaceful exchanges between opposing sides. “Yet, we are all Bahamians and our political differences should always be set aside when the common good of the country is at stake or when our colleagues suffer illness,” Culmer added.

The Bahamas has recorded 1,315 positive cases and 18 deaths from the virus that was first detected in China last December.

CMC