The sharp increase in the number of positive Covid cases is a reason for concern as it has led to an increase in hospital occupancy as well.
So said Dr Maryam Abdool-Richards, Principal Medical Officer-Institutions at the Ministry of Health.
Abdool-Richards, speaking during Monday’s virtual Covid-19 press conference, said “We have noted a significant increase in hospital occupancy levels. For example, at Epidemiological Week 11 we had an overall hospital occupancy of two per cent. At the end of Week 15 we have seen a significant increase in hospital occupancy levels, up to 24 per cent.
“As far as ICU (Intensive Care Unit) and HDU (High Dependency Unit) levels are concerned, ICU levels have increased from approximately two to five per cents to 25 over cent over a three-week period. HDU levels have also increased up to 10 per cent, where we were previously somewhere between zero and four per cent between Weeks 1 and 11.
“Additionally and even more worrying is the trend of the seven-day rolling average of number of Covid-19 cases per day over a seven-week period. This trend resulted in cases that were approximately three for Weeks 1 to 11, then at the end of Week 14 we saw an increase from three to 32, and as of today at the end of Week 15, that number basically doubled to 77 cases per day over the last week,” Abdool-Richards noted.
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