Dominica experiences a surge of symptomatic COVID patients

National Epidemiologist of Dominica Dr Shalauddin Ahmed stated that the country is experiencing an increase in symptomatic COVID patients.

Saturday, 27th November 2021

Dr Shalauddin Ahmed- National Epidemiologist of Dominica

Roseau, Dominica: National Epidemiologist of Dominica Dr Shalauddin Ahmed stated on Friday that the country recorded 45 new coronavirus cases on November 25 2021. Dr Ahmed said 47% of the new patients are symptomatic and are experiencing moderate to severe illness. The positivity has also increased, and it is now around 5 percent. He said the number of symptomatic COVID-19 patients have surged in Dominica. "At the beginning of the surge, we had more asymptomatic or mild COVID-19 cases, now we are seeing more symptomatic cases than asymptomatic," said the National Epidemiologist. He said 42 patients were detected through the Antigen method of COVID-19 testing, while three were diagnosed via RT-PCR testing. With the new 45 cases, the number of active cases rose to 394 and 235 are receiving medical attention at the Covid Car Complex while 158 are isolated at their homes. He said the majority of new patients are females. Speaking about the vaccination status of Dominica, Dr Ahmed stated around 50% of the target population is already vaccinated, while 54% of the target population received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccines. Discussing more extensive COVID-19 statistics, the National Epidemiologist said that since March 2020, over 5434 people have recovered from coronavirus and only 37 passed due to the virus. The deceased include 20 females and 17 males with a median age of 80. The youngest COVID-19 fatality is of a 40-year-old, while the oldest include a 107-year-old patient. Dr Ahmed stated that 95% of the people who died of COVID in Dominica were unvaccinated. As per the date, 97% had underlying medical conditions. Dr Ahmed stated that the majority of the new patients fall into the 18 years to 65 year age group. He said very few patients are in the age group of 12-year or more minor.