By Sue-Ann Wayow
THE month of January has not yet ended but already it is threatening to take the position of the second-deadliest Covid-19 month with 503 deaths being reported as of Friday.
The Ministry of Health reported 711 deaths last year December which to date recorded the highest number of Covid-19 related deaths since the first Covid-19 positive case was recorded on March 12, 2020.
A possible reason for the decrease in the January figure could be the presence of the Omicron variant of concern.
This is according to epidemiologist Dr Avery Hinds who said the ministry could not yet give a definitive reason for the daily decreases.
He was speaking at the Ministry of Health’s virtual Covid-19 update on Saturday.
On December 12, 2021, the Ministry reported its first Omicron case.
Dr Hinds said, “We are happy to see that we are seeing smaller numbers at this point in time. We cannot yet give any definitive reason for that downward trend beyond the possibility that as we have seen in other countries, the establishment of the more dominant Omicron variant as the dominant strain.
We have not yet said that it is the dominant strain but it will more than likely get there quickly. Because that strain really seems to have what you call lower virulence, there may be milder illness in the population as a result. This is not definitive but it is the most likely reason at this point in time for seeing the trend that we are seeing.”
Dr Hinds again advocated for the administering of the Covid-19 vaccine. He said the best way to establish and to improve on the downward trend of the daily death figures would be to increase the level of vaccination in the population.
Covid-19 deaths and cases for January 2022:
January 1: 14 deaths, 302 cases;
January 2: 31 deaths, 458 cases;
January 3: 22 deaths, 338 cases;
January 4: 15 deaths, 637 cases;
January 5: 22 deaths, 579 cases;
January 6: 19 deaths, 883 cases;
January 7: 18 deaths, 974 cases;
January 8: 37 deaths, 485 cases;
January 9: 19 deaths, 397 cases;
January 10: 16 deaths, 402 cases;
January 11: 20 deaths, 543 cases;
January 12: 17 deaths, 577 cases;
January 13: 15 deaths, 453 cases;
January 14: 22 deaths, 853 cases;
January 15: 24 deaths, 623 cases;
January 16: 17 deaths, 610 cases;
January 17: 11 deaths, 382 cases;
January 18: 16 deaths, 648 cases;
January 19: 14 deaths, 918 cases;
January 20: 18 deaths, 1,063 cases;
January 21: 22 deaths, 1,259 cases;
January 22: 8 deaths, 705 cases;
January 23: 16 deaths, 448 cases;
January 24: 18 deaths, 389 cases;
January 25: 15 deaths, 602 cases;
January 26: 12 deaths, 680 cases;
January 27: 11 deaths, 804 cases;
January 28: 14 deaths, 768 cases;
January 29: 9 deaths, 1,081 cases
