The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

MORE than 190 healthcare workers have been taken out of the system due to COVID-19 exposure, Health Minister Renward Wells revealed in the House of Assembly yesterday.

He made the statements as he gave an update to Parliament on his ministry's efforts to combat the COVID-19 threat. This comes as COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to climb.

The country has COVID-19 case fatality ratio of 2.4 per cent, the health minister said.

According to data released by the Ministry of Health yesterday morning, 72 additional cases were confirmed on Tuesday while there were four more COVID-19 related deaths.

Last night, the ministry said 64 more cases were confirmed yesterday, pushing the nation's tally to 2,721.

Mr Wells also revealed several planned measures to bolster healthcare services for patients in the country in response to the global crisis.

The measures include increasing hospital bed capacity, conducting more COVID-19 testing as well as bringing in more healthcare workers to aid in the country's fight against COVID.

According to the minister, 194 healthcare workers to date have been impacted by COVID-19. This comes as nurses and physicians continue to struggle with exhaustion from the increasing amount of COVID cases.

"Our healthcare personnel are our most valuable resource in combating COVID-19. Surges in infection particularly expose us to shortfalls of healthcare providers due to illness," he told the House of Assembly.

"At last count, there were 194 healthcare workers, inclusive of physicians, nurses and allied health staff, unable to deliver care, significantly impacting delivery of care to COVID and non-COVID patients."

In an effort to resolve nurse shortage issues, the minister told reporters Tuesday that the government wanted to hire nurses from abroad to strengthen the country's response against the pandemic.

Yesterday, Mr Well reiterated the government's plans to hire additional nurses and 29 junior doctors.

"Our strategy to offset the shortfall thus far has been to identify and engage healthcare providers both within and outside of hospital settings whose workloads have been reduced due to the cancellation of elective procedures, outpatient visits, and the reduction of non-COVID-19 hospitalisations," he said.

"We have also assessed the staff capacity to support the care of critically ill patients, particularly during this surge. Trainees, nurses, physicians, technicians, retirees and other support staff have all been co-opted to fill gaps across the healthcare workforce.

"Additionally, we have taken the decision to re-engage the 29 physician senior house officers (SHOs), who will immediately be added to the medical services capacity."

Of the 2,721 cases recorded up to yesterday, 1,457 were active while there were 1,183 recovered cases.

New Providence has the country's highest number of cases at 1,780, followed by Grand Bahama at 591, according to the data.

Earlier yesterday, Mr Wells revealed that females account for 48 percent of all confirmed cases while males account for 52 percent. In view of the statistics, Mr Wells also noted that case identification testing, treatment, aggressive contact tracing, and creating public awareness about COVID-19 prevention tips remains at the top of his ministry's priorities in the fight against the virus.

And in response to the rising cases in the country, Mr Wells also said officials have increased member capacity in its disease surveillance unit by adding 62 volunteers.

These volunteers, he said, will work alongside the 71-member team at the surveillance department and other re-assigned health care workers.

He also said that COVID-19 testing strategy has also expanded with testing priorities "clearly articulated to maximise use of scarce resources."

"Thanks to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the National Reference Laboratory (NRL) can run two sets of 96 samples per day if the samples are prepared with the requisite support," he added.

"Staff at the NRL, with the help of newly hired staff, have worked arduously to eliminate the previously reported backlogs with sample turnaround time now back to 24 - 48 hours. Data validation is ongoing to ensure that we are well-aware of where we are in this wave."

Bed shortages was also another issue the minister addressed in his speech yesterday. The matter has been a bone of contention for many, specifically healthcare workers, due to an influx of COVID-19 patients.

However, since the start of the pandemic, Mr Wells said nearly 100 beds have been added to the healthcare system to increase its acute care bed capacity.

He said four additional beds have been added to PMH's Legacy Unit for COVID-19 patients, increasing capacity there to eight.

Meanwhile, at South Beach Urgent Care and Referral Centre, bed capacity stands 16.

According to Mr Wells, there are also 16 beds for infected patients at the Cancer Association of The Bahamas (CAB) building in Grand Bahama and seven beds at the Grand Bahama Health Services system.

At Doctors Hospital, there are 22 beds at its west location and an additional five beds being used by positive COVID patients at Doctors Hospital on Collins Avenue.

Meanwhile, as it relates to Breezes, the Bamboo Town added: "Sixteen patients can be accommodated on the first floor with capacity for additional rooms on the second and third floors."

The hotel's east wing has been identified as a national response facility to accommodate non-COVID low medical care patients.

Mr Wells said while officials have significantly improved bed capacity at the PMH through the transfer of boarders to other living accommodations, they continue to explore other avenues to get more beds for urgent and acute care purposes.