Guadeloupe: Children, pregnant woman, unvaccinated rapidly catching COVID infection

Guadeloupe is once again entering a “complicated and difficult” phase due to the coronavirus pandemic. In a press release issued on Wednesday, the Regional Health Agency said that nearly 16,500 new cases of Covid-19 have been observed in one week while the protests against the vaccination continue.

“We have entered a complicated and difficult hospital phase”, warned Valérie Denux, the director-general of the ARS, announcing that the hospital must unlock additional resuscitation beds.

"We have also asked for reinforcements" and reorganized services; this is done at the expense of other support," she said.

Valérie Denux said that in total, 151 people were hospitalized, including 116 who returned last week.

"There are also eight pregnant women and six children cared for at the Parent-Child centre for the Covid, around 16 people with Covid are admitted to intensive care, “only one of them has a complete vaccination schedule (…), unlike the 15 others, all unvaccinated”, she specified.

Furthermore, the director of ARS added that the vaccine hesitancy continues on the island. She added that it is the major cause of the recent spike in infections.

The health structure of Guadeloupe is slowly overwhelming as hundreds of people are returning back to medical care following coronavirus infections. Authorities are making attempts to lower the infection rate, which seems impossible due to the widespread anti-vaccine protests and hesitancy.