Two More COVID-19 Fatalaties
A 16th person has died due to complications of the COVID-19 virus. This time, Medical Director at the Mount St. John’s Medical Centre (MSJMC) Dr. Albert Duncan confirmed that an essential worker has passed.
The hospital says that the 53-year-old essential worker- a female- was admitted to the medical facility on January 24 in respiratory distress and clinical signs of COVID-19.
“Following hospital admission guidelines the patient was tested for COVID-19 prior to admission,” the hospital says.
Accordingly, the results returned positive and the woman had been undergoing treatment since her diagnosis which included prolonged ventilator support.
“Despite our best efforts, the patient died this morning, March 1, 2021 at 8:20 am,” Dr. Duncan says.
He says the hospital mourns the passing of the essential worker and adds that “our thoughts and prayers go out to her family and her colleagues at this time.”
Dr. Duncan says that the heroic work of healthcare workers in this fight continues to be praised. He says, however, that essential work extends beyond healthcare.
“Although some people have been able to shift their jobs to their homes, thousands of workers have jobs that cannot be done at home—and these workers leave their homes everyday to help maintain a semblance of normalcy for others, at great risk to themselves and their families,” the medical director says.
Dr. Duncan is encouraging people to wear their masks and follow the protocols in order to prevent the spread of the virus.
He says, “If the current trajectory continues and we don’t gain control of this urgently, it will become harder to bring under control.”
The doctor continues, “This pandemic requires us to work together to bring it under control urgently.”
The announcement of this death comes just 24 hours after the hospital confirmed the death of a 69-year-old man from the virus. He reportedly died last week Thursday (February 25); however, his death was only recently confirmed.
Meanwhile …
Thirty-nine new cases of the coronavirus have been recorded effective Saturday, February 27.
These latest figures push the country’s number of lab-confirmed cases to 769. Health officials say that all the cases are non-imported, bringing that number to 637.
The Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment updated its dashboard showing 448 active cases with 307 recoveries.
Officials say that 281 samples were sent for testing at the Mount St. John’s Medical Centre (MSJMC) and the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA).
MSJMC processed 108 samples of which 32 were positive. Twelve of these positive cases were repeat tests; while CARPHA tested 173 samples, of which 20 were positive. One of these positive cases was a repeat test.
Meanwhile, there have been six recoveries but hospitalizations have increased to 52. To date, over 12,900 people have been tested in Antigua and Barbuda for the virus.
