Cases of COVID-19 in Grand Bahama increased from 49 between November 1 and November 7 to 99 in the last week, a more than 100 percent increase.
The island, which has the second-largest number of infections, recorded a combined 41 cases over the weekend, outpacing New Providence where the majority of the population resides.
New Providence recorded 25 confirmed cases — six on Sunday, 11 on Saturday and nine last Friday.
Grand Bahama recorded 11 new cases on Sunday, 23 on Saturday and seven cases last Friday.
The island recorded 19 cases last Thursday.
During a Ministry of Health press conference last week, health officials attributed the recent increase to exposures at an industrial job site.
A reported 26 of the 38 cases on the island last Wednesday originated from employee interactions in the workplace among an electrical team.
Three of the remaining 12 cases originated from another business on the island, four had no origin linked to a workplace or any other cases, and five cases were being sought after as there were gaps in their contact information data.
When asked whether the island was undergoing a cluster of cases or community spread, Dr Frank Bartlett, head of the GB COVID-19 Task Force, said: “It is a mixture of both and one of the — what I would have mentioned in the beginning — we have defined clusters within different workplaces. But we still don’t have a clear-cut explanation for the ones that we are seeing coming into the Accident and Emergency room.
He said more data and analysis is needed to conclude whether there is community spread, which will determine the way forward with potential restrictions.
Bartlett said: “The important thing about establishing whether or not you have community spread is that is going to be the determinant as to what type of restrictions you are going to be putting in place.”
Cases have been on the rise on the island since early October.
During the period, October 11-17, Grand Bahama recorded 23 cases.
In the following week, the island saw 59 new infections.
There were 32 confirmed cases during the week, October 18-24, and 49 new infections in the next week.
When contacted yesterday, Pineridge MP Frederick McAlpine said while he does not believe a lockdown should be imposed for the island, the government’s testing protocol should be expanded made free for Grand Bahamians.
ewnews
