The fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is finally coming to an end. That’s according to National Epidemiologist Dr. Michelle Francois who said the Ministry of Health, Wellness, and Elderly Affairs has noted an improvement in various COVID-19 trends.
“In terms of our epidemiological curve we continue to see a sharp decrease in the number of cases and we are trending very nicely. We have passed our peak and our numbers are decreasing. (The) numbers of persons at the respiratory clinics are decreasing as well so we are noting that we are at the end of our wave. We continue to appeal to the public to adhere to the public health measures and do (what is necessary) to maintain this decline in the number of cases that we are seeing in Saint Lucia,” Francois said at a press conference, Wednesday.
The Ministry of Health recorded a significant number of COVID-19 cases during the fifth wave of the pandemic and also confirmed the presence of the Omicron variant which was described as a variant of concern by the World Health Organization in November last year.
A change in local COVID-19 trends has led the Ministry to adjust its decisions, however, according to Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sharon Belmar-George, the Ministry of Health is working with various sectors to reduce restrictive protocols without increasing health risks.
“The idea of living with COVID-19 also means that we keep our services functioning even during the management of waves, utilizing targeted interventions at the main areas of risks. COVID-19 has led to severe loss of productivity; moving forward we propose keeping our sectors open as we enforce the measures we know that can work. We ask for the full cooperation of the public and personal responsibility as together we return to normalcy in a safe way,” Belmar-George said.
The Ministry of Health confirmed a total of four new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday. These samples were processed on Wednesday March 2, from a total of 201 samples and makes up 1.99% of all the samples processed on that date. Prior to press time yesterday the total number of cases diagnosed in country stood at 22, 733.
“Confirmation was also received of the recovery of 23 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19. This brings the number of active cases in country to date to 87. Currently, there are 18 positive cases of COVID-19 admitted at the Respiratory Hospital and one of them is critically ill and two are severely ill. To date, a total of 52, 373 individuals have been fully vaccinated. Another 5, 652 are partially vaccinated and 6, 762 have received their booster shot,” the Ministry stated Thursday.