NASSAU, The Bahamas -- Minister of Health the Hon. Dr. Duane Sands said the Ministry confirmed one additional case of COVID-19 – a 29-year-old female from New Providence who is currently in isolation at home.

This brings to 81 the total number of confirmed cases in The Bahamas, Dr. Sands stated during the COVID-19 update press conference at the Ministry of Health, Thursday, April 30, 2020.

He explained that the Ministry has used its daily dashboard to keep the public updated on COVID-19 cases since February 26, 2020. “On March 15th, The Bahamas announced its first COVID-19 case.

“Consequently, a number of adjustments were made to the face of the dashboard to provide Bahamians with a clearer and more accurate picture of the COVID-19 situation in the country.” Dr. Sands noted that Bahamians grew accustomed to seeing worldwide confirmed and recovered cases and the total number of deaths.

He said locally, the public was kept abreast of:

Confirmed and recovered COVID-19 cases;

Persons in quarantine; and Deaths.

The Ministry is modifying the dashboard to:

Respond to requests made by the public for a better overall picture of how COVID-19 affects The Bahamas; and

To provide a fuller view of data collected by the Ministry of Health.The Ministry of Health will add to its current reporting via the dashboard:

The number of RT-PCR tests completed in The Bahamas; The total active cases; and

The number of patients hospitalized. Dr. Sands noted that the Ministry of Health has ramped up RT-PCR testing in response to community spread. He added that the in-country gold standard RT-PCR test is performed at the accredited National Reference Lab. “It is now the firm policy of the Ministry that no other testing, including rapid antibody testing, will be accepted in The Bahamas to confirm the negative or positive status of COVID-19 patients.

“Hence, results produced by rapid test kits are at this time not approved or acceptable test results in the country.”

He explained that increased testing helps healthcare experts understand the COVID-19 pandemic and permits the Ministry of Health to:

Fight and reduce the spread and impact of the virus;

Identify infected individuals;

 

Isolate those infected;

Trace and quarantine their contacts;

Determine the medical management of the infected;

Allocate medical resources and staff more efficiently; and

Determine the risks to different sectors of our society.

The Health Minister stated that the number of tests completed on the dashboard will reflect the progress being made to achieve these objectives.

He said that in addition, the “active cases” category declares how many people are currently identified as infected with COVID-19.

“This number is calculated by taking the total number of cases identified through testing, and subtracting those who have recovered and those who died.

“We will now also display the ‘number of persons hospitalized’ category.

This will give policymakers and the general public an idea of how seriously affected some COVID-19 patients are.”

Dr. Sands stated that such information is essential in determining where staff, resources and equipment should be allocated.

He added that the dashboard will also show how cases are distributed across the Family Islands and will no longer report the number of persons in quarantine.

“This number constantly fluctuates and its being on the dashboard did not give the best understanding of the spread and control of COVID-19.”