Active cases rises over 361, as more test COVID positive in Dominica

Dr Shalauddin Ahmed- National epidemiologist of Dominica on Thursday said there are 361 active cases of COVID-19 on the island while 215 successfully recovered. He said all the patients are confirmed through the RT-PCR testing. He noted there had been no coronavirus related deaths on the island, and the government is working to contain the increasing infections of the virus. Dr Ahmed said RT-PCR testing is the gold standard of COVID-19 testing due to its high sensitivity and specificity. He said RT-PCR testing is considered more accurate, and health officials have not mixed up any rapid antigen or antibody test results with the PCR test results so far.

The epidemiologist said 255 individuals are antigen-positive, but their RT-PCR results are still pending.

He said Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) also advised to include the positive antigen cases into confirmed cases, which would reflect in the upcoming dashboard.

As per statistics, the country recorded only 576 coronavirus cases since 2020, while the majority of patients were recorded after the Lot event on July 25, 2021. The positivity rate also rose from 1 percent to 2.5%.

Director of Pan Americal Health Organization (PAHO) Dr Carissa F. Ettiene said in a video message that the region has decent-quality vaccines, but vaccine hesitancy among people is to be blamed for rising coronavirus cases.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dqFoZi-M_U&t=22s[/embed]

She said she is genuinely concerned about what is happening in the Caribbean in terms of coronavirus infections. As per PAHO figures, only 1.1 million people in the Caribbean have been fully vaccinated, covering 15% of the total population. The data does not include Haiti, which recently started its vaccination drives.

The PAHO Director said 95% of the total people experiencing critical COVID-19 related illness in the region are unvaccinated. She said people believe anti-vaccine rumours that are not supported by any scientific data or study.