New COVID cases surpass 600

New COVID-19 infections believed to be driven by the highly-infectious Omicron variant topped 600 on Monday, authorities reported.

The death toll also moved to 271 after two people passed away at the Harrison Point Isolation Facility – a 59-year-old who was unvaccinated and a 97-year-old who was fully vaccinated.

There were 652 new COVID-19 cases, the highest number recorded in any one day, that comprised 296 males and 356 females, from the 2,503 tests conducted by the Best-dos Santos Public Health Laboratory.

Of the new cases, 119 persons were under the age of 18, and 533 were 18 years and older.

The number of people in isolation facilities currently stands at 101, while 5,601 were in home isolation.

In a recent interview with Barbados TODAY, Chief Medical Officer Dr Kenneth George warned the public to exercise extra care and follow all the health protocols, noting that cases have been increasing over the last few weeks.

“The Ministry of Health remains very concerned. Based on the information we have, the patterns of disease spread and the level of infectivity, we are obviously in an Omicron-type mode,” he said. “Based on the level of spread and the rapidly increasing numbers, both with respect to the positivity rate, the cumulative cases per 100,000, both the seven-day and 14-day average and the R-effective number all trending upwards at this time, Barbados is in its third wave which is well-established.”

Since the start of the pandemic, the public health laboratory has carried out 506,309 tests and recorded 36,386 COVID-19 cases.

Under the National Vaccination Programme for COVID-19, the total number of persons who have received at least one dose is 157,721 (69.1 per cent of the eligible population).

The total number of persons who are fully vaccinated is 146,155 (53.9 per cent of the total population or 64 per cent of the eligible population). The eligible population represents those persons who are 12 years and older. (BT/BGIS)