On February 3, 2023, the Ministry of Health, Wellness, and Social Services in Dominica held a press briefing to talk about how to stay safe and healthy during Carnival. The National Epidemiologist, Dr. Shaloudin Ahmed, the Dominica China Friendship Hospital Matron, Emily Matthew, and the Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Laura SRI, all went to the event. The goal of the press briefing was to let the public know what was going on with COVID-19 in the country and what steps were being taken to stop the virus from spreading.
Dr. Ahmed gave a COVID-19 summary report that talked about how the country’s pandemic is getting better under control. He said that the first case of COVID-19 was found in Dominica in March 2020. Since then, the government has taken steps to stop the virus from spreading and protect its people. The data show that COVID-19 cases in Dominica went from sporadic and cluster transmission in 2020 and most of 2021 to community transmission in August 2022 before going back to sporadic transmission in 2023. The Ministry of Health’s efforts to stop the spread of the virus have worked. The report also said that two worrying variants were found: the Delta variant from August 2021 to January 2022 and the Omicron variant in May 2022.
The report says that 56% of the COVID-19 cases that were found in Dominica were in people who had not been vaccinated. Even though most cases had symptoms, it’s important to remember that there was a time when only people with symptoms were screened. Most people who had symptoms had not been vaccinated. With 78 COVID-19-related deaths and a case fatality rate of 0.5%, the country has the second-lowest case fatality rate in the Caribbean and the lowest among OASIS countries. Most people who died were women, and 70% of those who died were 70 years old or older. 88% of the people who died had underlying health problems, with hypertension and diabetes being the most common.
COVID-19 is still stable in Dominica, where the total number of cases is 15,848 and the average daily rate of positive tests has been 2.5% over the past seven days. There is one real active case this week, and 44% of the population is fully vaccinated, 3.3% are partially vaccinated, and 5.8% have received boosters. The Ministry of Health is still keeping an eye on how COVID-19 is affecting the country and has thanked the public for being so careful.
Emily Matthew, who was the Matron at the Dominica China Friendship Hospital, also gave advice on how to visit the hospital and keep yourself and other patients safe. Even though masks are no longer required, she stressed how important it is to take every precaution to avoid getting COVID-19 and spreading it. She told visitors to follow the rules, such as wearing masks, keeping a safe distance from others, and not going to the facility if they were sick.
Dominica’s Ministry of Health held a press briefing on February 3, 2023, where they told the press about COVID-19 in the country and what is being done to stop it from spreading. The report talked about how the pandemic is getting better under control and how important it is to stay alert and follow health and safety rules. People should follow the instructions from the Ministry of Health to keep themselves and others safe from the virus.
