By RASHAD ROLLE
Tribune Senior Reporter
rrolle@tribunemedia.net
THE Bahamas is ranked 182 out of 184 countries in the COVID-19 recovery index, according to one Global COVID-19 Index (GCI).
The country has been given a score of 17.83 out of 100 indicating that it is “struggling to cope with the crisis and…may need to consider maintaining stringent non-pharmaceutical measures.”
The country received 67.23 on the index’s latest severity index, indicating it “may be overwhelmed by the crisis with a high percentage of infections and resulting deaths per population.”
GCI’s forecast for The Bahamas is that the “situation may improve”.
“The GCI Model indicates that the solution has a small probability of recovery but there is insufficient evidence to suggest that the recovery trend will improve significantly in the near future,” the researchers say.
The recovery index considers active cases per population, recoveries per confirmed case, tests conducted per confirmed case and tests conducted per population. The severity index considers confirmed cases per population and proportionate death rate due to COVID-19.
The index was developed by PEMANDU Associates in collaboration with Malaysia’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation and the Sunway Group.
This comes as Dr Sabriquet Pinder-Butler, head of the Consultant Physicians Staff Association, said yesterday that public health facilities are managing as best as they can under the strain of COVID-19.
“We’ve kind of been in strain mode for a little while with the hospitals being over capacity and so everything is pretty much filled up and they’re just trying to make the best with the space situation,” she said. “It’s not just COVID, and that’s what we’re trying to get everyone to understand. We already had challenges with spacing and staffing before COVID.
“With us having additional persons with COVID, that certainly adds to a system that was already trying to make best with what was there. Everything is pretty much at over capacity mode. Once someone goes in, you have someone already waiting for that space. Everyone is trying their best.”
Asked if the situation is manageable, Dr Pinder-Butler said: “Manageable is relative in terms of, if you know this is the hands you are dealt with but you’re still going to try your best, then you manage as best as you can. Things can certainly be much better, but we don’t have an ideal situation in the country.”
The Bahamas has had more than 6,400 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Most of these cases were recorded after July 1, when the country reopened its borders to commercial international travel.
On July 28, the GCI Index ranked The Bahamas last among 184 countries on its COVID-19 recovery index.
Comments
rodentos 3 years, 5 months ago
in other words Bahamas is a covid shithole
ThisIsOurs 3 years, 5 months ago
"GCI’s forecast for The Bahamas is that the “situation may improve"
Well one would hope so! I mean if you tell someone they're the worst possible ever and then tell them the situation may not improve.... islands of the Bahamas it just keeps getting worse
proudloudandfnm 3 years, 5 months ago
Well this should bring in the tourists next week....
Shameful. And all because of one idiotic decision to allow people to travel with no restrictions...
This FNM has to go. And never ever return.
Chucky 3 years, 5 months ago
The whole story blaming a few people for travelling is pure BS. It’s the government’s way of shifting the blame away from themselves for opening the border. I’m sure you all know that 100 foreign came in for every Bahamian that went and came back during that window.
Open you eyes and see this for what it is. A bumbling government who needs to be referred to as the “competent authority “. Where is the competence? We see the “authority “. Just as Hitler show his “authority “
MrsQ 3 years, 5 months ago
Exactly. The government seems to think that COVID discriminates and only Bahamians could have brought the virus home, while American tourists were not carriers also. The decision to open the borders on July 1st was disastrously irresponsible, just as the decision to encourage tourism starting November 1st will be also.
Screen_Name 3 years, 5 months ago
Bahamians were not required to test at any time for trips of 72 hours or less. Foreigners WERE required to test. What could possibly go wrong?
MrsQ 3 years, 5 months ago
There were also instances of Americans coming in without proper documentation of testing.
lovingbahamas 3 years, 5 months ago
Well, look at the bright side- we squeezed past Slovakia and Honduras or we would be in last place IN THE WORLD! And, they think tourists are going to want to come here??
ColumbusPillow 3 years, 5 months ago
We do not know who are COVID infected and who are not, in a big part of the population. With PCR testing it takes as much as week to get a positive/negative report + many hours in a queue This is killing. Rapid testing (15 minutes with antigen method) to get us out of this hole NOW!
jamaicaproud 3 years, 5 months ago
Its the Haitian fault, darnit.
tribanon 3 years, 5 months ago
Just how much more are the Bahamian people prepared to stomach from the most corrupt, incompetent, arrogant, nasty and vindictive PM our country has ever had?!!
The Bahamian people can only hope and pray that they never again have a PM as corrupt, incompetent, arrogant, nasty and vindictive as Minnis.
Thankfully most Bahamians now agree that Satan would have a much better chance of being welcomed in Heaven than Minnis has of being re-elected in the next general election.
lovingbahamas 3 years, 5 months ago
Maybe they can use some of the 3 million rapid tests they are saving for tourists to help our country get over this. They are donated after all.
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