Health officials in Grenada have flagged a significant increase in the country’s positivity rate for COVID-19.
Senior Medical Officer, Dr. Myanna Charles disclosed Tuesday that the rate has increased from 3.2% to 11%, a change she cites as dire. The positivity rate refers to the number of cases that are confirmed positive in the total number of tests conducted.
Explaining the significance of positivity rate, Dr. Charles said, “A few days ago, health officials had to conduct about 33 tests before they got a positive case, today, they are only conducting about 10 tests before they see a positive case.”
Dr. Charles said, “The situation is very, very serious and we need to take heed and remember the core public preventative measures which include wearing the masks properly over your nose and mouth, social distancing, sanitising and avoiding crowded spaces. More than ever we need the general public to take heed and practice those measures.”
On Monday, the Ministry of Health reported 104 new cases, confirmed from the 910 tests conducted. Results for tests done on Tuesday are still being compiled and analysed and any new cases will be confirmed through the daily COVID-19 dashboard.
As of 7:00 p.m. on Monday, the number of active cases stood at 267, with the majority of them among Grenadians and attributed to community spread.
Positive cases have been recorded in all parishes. Statistics provided by the Ministry of Health reveal that St. George’s has the highest rate of COVID-19 positive cases at 45%.
St. John/St. Mark combined have recorded 31%, St. Andrew 17%, St. David 6% and St. Patrick, 1%.
The cases in Carriacou have recovered.
A five-month old baby is now included among the country’s positive cases and health officials have indicated a rising number of children contracting the virus. The oldest positive case is 97 years old and that individual is currently hospitalised.
Females account for 51% of the active cases in Grenada and 83% of the persons who have tested positive, are not vaccinated.
To date, 24,977 persons have received their first dose, while 18,824 are fully vaccinated. Since Pfizer was introduced as part of the Ministry’s COVID-19 vaccination programme, 2,290 have opted for this vaccine and received their first dose.
A breakdown of the vaccination data shows that the majority of doses have been administered in St. George, with that figure currently at 31,904. St. Andrew is next with 3,768, St. Patrick with 2,178, St. John and St. Mark with a combined total of 1,997 and St. David with 1,589. Collectively, 2,237 doses have been administered to persons in Carriacou and Petite Martinique.
