The Ministry of Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs has received the gene sequencing results from the Caribbean Public Health Agency CARPHA. The results indicated 14 new cases of Variants of Concern. The Omicron Variant was confirmed in 13 of the samples sequenced and 1 case of the Delta Variant.
Of the 13 cases of Omicron diagnosed 11 of them are nationals and 2 are non- nationals, 2 are male and 11 are female.
The location of the Omicron cases includes Castries, Gros- Islet and Vieux-Fort the main communities affected during this wave. Based on epidemiological patterns it appears that the Omicron Variant may be the dominant variant circulating during this 5 th wave. This justifies the high rate of transmission within the communities and workplaces. From the commencement of the 5 th wave on December 16, 2021 until January 30, 2022, 7,780 cases have been diagnosed with an average of 173 cases per day.
Women account for 59% of the cases and 29 COVID-19 deaths have been recorded; 55% of which is male. Tourists account for 2% of the cases diagnosed for the past 7 days but 4.8% of the total cases during the 5 th wave. We have 49 positive cases admitted at the Respiratory Hospital and 6 are severely ill.