A Sweetings Cay resident is in hospital after a shark attack on Friday.

According to reports, at around 6pm, the man was bitten by an 8-10 foot shark in waters off East End Point, McCleans Town, while diving for fish.

A BOATING incident on Monday near Andros has claimed the life of a civilian and left two off-duty members of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) in hospital.

The civilian was identified as 62-year-old Joseph Sands of Little Creek, Andros, by his daughter Anika Sands. She also identified one of the RBDF members as her cousin, Brandon Munroe.

The Bahamas Department of Meteorology has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning from 03:05 PM EDT UNTIL 4:35 PM EDT TUESDAY, 18TH AUGUST, 2020.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING CONTINUES GREAT EXUMA, NORTH ANDROS AND THEIR ADJACENT WATERS. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING IS NOW IN EFFECT FOR MAYAGUANA AND ITS ADJACENT WATERS.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL CAT ISLAND, CENTRAL AND SOUTH ELEUTHERA AND ADJACENT WATERS.

AT 03:00 PM EDT RADAR AND SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWED NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS ASSOCIATED WITH A MID TO UPPER LEVEL TROUGH MOVING OVER AND TOWARD THE MENTIONED AREAS.

SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE SEVERE AT TIMES CAUSING STRONG GUSTY WINDS, DANGEROUS LIGHTNING, HEAVY DOWNPOURS, HAIL AND POSSIBLE WATERSPOUT OR TORNADIC ACTIVITY.

BOATERS IN THE WARNING AREA SHOULD SEEK SAFE HARBOUR AND RESIDENTS IN THE WARNING AREA SHOULD STAY INDOORS AND AWAY FROM WINDOWS WHEN CONDITIONS WORSEN. RESIDENTS SHOULD NOT SEEK SHELTER UNDER TREES OR IN WATER AS THESE CAN BECOME LIGHTNING CONDUCTORS

ISSUED BY DUTY FORECASTER GEOFFREY GREENE

Two more people have died from COVID-19, bringing the total number of deaths from the disease in The Bahamas to 11, Minister of Health Dr. Duane Sands said yesterday.

He said the latest victims were two men, a 53-year-old and a 51-year-old, who are both from New Providence.

“We give our heartfelt condolences to the families of the two men who lost their lives and our prayers are with you in this very difficult time,” he said.

He also announced two new cases of COVID-19 – a 50-year-old woman on New Providence and a 29-year-old woman on New Providence. He said both women are in home isolation.

There are now 72 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country. Of them, Sands said 15 cases are health care workers.

As of yesterday, nine people were hospitalized, he said. He said eight of them are in Doctors Hospital West on New Providence, and one in the Rand Memorial Hospital on Grand Bahama.

Fourteen people have recovered in total, but there remains 792 people in quarantine – over 200 of whom are health care workers.

At least 46 staff and 39 patients at Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre are also in quarantine after a patient on the Robert Smith ward tested positive with COVID-19 after being exposed in the medical-surgical ward at Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH).

The Bahamas continues to have one of the highest case-fatality rates in the region. Health officials have said that increased testing will see that rate decrease as more people test positive for the novel coronavirus.

Dr. Merceline Dahl-Regis, health advisor to the prime minister, said the increase in cases will likely pick up after a patient on the Medical-Surgical Ward at PMH tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week.

“We would expect that the increase will continue and will be greater given the situation in the Medical-Surgical Ward at Princess Margaret Hospital as well as the increased testing that is projected beginning today,” she said.

Sands said just under 1,000 people had been tested in the country as of yesterday.