The Tribune

A 40-year-old New Providence woman died from COVID-19 on June 23, pushing the nation’s death toll to 245, according to the Ministry of Health.

Twenty-nine other deaths are said to be under investigation.

The Ministry of Health also reported 60 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday, which were recorded on Wednesday. These cases brought the nation’s confirmed virus toll to 12,467.

Forty-three of those new cases are in New Providence, 12 are in Grand Bahama, one is in Abaco while there are two new cases each in Andros as well as Bimini/Cat Cay.

The latest figures came days after local infectious diseases expert Dr Nikkiah Forbes urged people not to let the guards down, warning the country has not emerged from its third wave yet.

On Sunday Dr Forbes said at this point it is difficult to determine the likelihood of the country experiencing a fourth wave and what a surge like that would look like.

“There’s vaccinations now and that can help to reduce the number of cases if you were to have a robust effective vaccination programme,” she explained. “But we also have to consider emerging new variants like the Delta variant which is more contagious. And all of those things would play into what subsequent waves or outbreaks would look like, or even what the current outbreak would look like and so it’s hard to predict that given those factors.”

She added: “COVID is not going away so we’ve got to learn and do the things we know to protect against getting it and spreading it and that is the public health measures and vaccinations at this time. Of course, there are also public health remedies (such as) testing, identifying cases, isolation, contact tracing and quarantine and other measures.”