Is the fourth wave of the coronavirus which started July 25 of this year slowly coming to an end? The Ministry of Health, Wellness and Elderly affairs thinks so, yesterday forecasting an “average resolution” by November if there are no major increases in risks for new transmission.
“From July 25, 2021 to present we note 6,475 cases at an average of 84 cases per day. 50% are in the age group 25- 49 years. 57% of the cases are female. At present we have 1,114 active cases in country. The majority of the cases are from Castries, Gros- Islet, Vieux-Fort and Babonneau. There are present-ly 55 COVID-19 patients admitted to the Respiratory Hospital. Two of them require critical care and nine are severely ill,” the Ministry stated.
According to the Ministry, the daily infection rate for the past week was 22.1 per 100,000 per day which is a 68% decrease from the previous week.
“We note a steady decline in the rate of transmission at this point with a present rate of 1.3. During that period we note 133 COVID-19 deaths, on average 3 deaths daily with a case fatality rate of 2.1%. Males account for 56% of the deaths. We note an increase in severe cases, admissions and deaths from the south western zone of the country which also corresponds to the areas of low vaccination uptake. Investigations and specific interventions will be implemented to address this issue,” the Minis-try noted in a statement issued on Monday.
The Ministry has confirmed that as of this week the island has nine new cases of the Delta variant of the coronavirus, notification of which was made by the Caribbean Public Health Agency. All of the cas-es are nationals from across the island. Seven of them are females with ages ranging from 25 to 69 years.
The Ministry of Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs further noted reductions in the transmission rate, hospitalization rates, positivity rates and prevalence rates.
“We continue to note cases diagnosed related to social activities, work places and spread between families. To date from the positive cases diagnosed in country less than 2% have been fully vaccinated. Ninety-eight percent of the COVID-19 deaths and COVID-19 related deaths at the Respiratory Hospital were unvaccinated. The 2% deaths who were fully vaccinated had other serious underlying health conditions which contributed to their demise. We continue to ask the public to work with us and ex-hibit responsible behaviour to manage this fourth wave. Let us all take personal responsibility to keep ourselves and families safe,” the Ministry reiterated in its statement.
Saint Lucia, Monday, recorded 13 new COVID-19 cases and for the first time in weeks the number of active cases in-country went down to 837. One individual is in critical state while 10 others are severely ill at the Respiratory Hospital.