Though COVID-19 cases have been steadily increasing in recent weeks, Doctors Hospital Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sheena Antonio-Collie said the majority of COVID-positive patients who have been presenting at the facility have not been ill with COVID.

“In our environment right now, [what] we have been seeing at Doctors Hospital is an increase in patients who are coming in with COVID as what we call a secondary diagnosis,” she said.

“So, in other words, those patients are infected with COVID, but they are not ill with COVID. So, they’re coming in with other reasons.

“… We test everyone who is being admitted to our facility for COVID-19 and we’re having a few more cases of people who are infected with COVID-19.

“Those patients are not at this time requiring any treatment for COVID. For the most part, many of them don’t even require oxygen therapy at this time unless it is for their primary diagnosis.”

Antonio-Collie added, “So, what’s happened now is, it’s less resource-intensive. So, it hasn’t been pulling on our resources in terms of human resources, or in terms of medications and treatments.

“Our Doctors Hospital West facility remains closed at this time because any patient who has COVID, we’re able to facilitate them in our negative pressure and isolation areas in the main hospital.”

After months of low numbers following the fourth wave of COVID, cases and daily positivity rates began increasing earlier this month.

Hospitalizations, however, have remained low compared to previous surges. As of Sunday, 10 people were hospitalized with COVID in The Bahamas.

None of them were at Doctors Hospital and none of them were in intensive care.

Antonio-Collie said, however, the hospital is beginning to see an impact on staffing numbers as a result of exposures. 

“We have a lot of issues in terms of human resources and staffing in terms of the various employment areas, and even our own in the hospital starting to see a few challenges — not as bad as it was with the Omicron in the winter but, still, we’re just seeing that increase in that pull on people remaining home and clusters and groups because of symptoms of COVID-19.”

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