THE HAGUE - The measures that Curaçao and Aruba are taking against the increase in the number of corona infections are "insufficient to prevent this worrying increase," according to the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) in the weekly overview of the situation in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom, published today.
RIVM considers it likely that new outbreaks are related to the tourist season "which is currently running at full speed and leading to increased social interaction." On Bonaire, the downward trend continues and Saba registered an infection for the first time in a long time, which had traveled from the Netherlands.
About Curaçao, the RIVM indicated in their report that 236 people per 100,000 inhabitants received a positive SARS-CoV-2 test result last week, a decrease compared to a week earlier (295/100,000 on July 28). From the second week of July there was a striking increase in positive corona tests and clusters in young adults, the majority of whom have not been fully vaccinated. According to the latest data, the Delta variant currently has a share of approximately 93% in germination surveillance (week 29). In addition, the B.1.621 variant (7%), common in Colombia, also circulates on the island. The number of hospital admissions has been rising since the beginning of July. Also, 3 COVID-related deaths were reported last week.
Last week, 7 people were admitted with or due to COVID-19 complaints. There are currently 21 people in hospital, 5 of whom are in intensive care. In addition to people over 60, people between the ages of 40 and 49 are mainly included, a shift from previous outbreaks to the younger age groups. Of the 22 people admitted with or because of COVID-19 between July 22 and August 1, only 1 person was fully vaccinated. To date, 79 SARS-CoV-2 infections acquired at least 14 days after the first vaccination have been reported. Of these, 43% have been reported among individuals aged 65 and over. These 8 samples have been submitted for sequence analysis, which shows that the alpha variant still dominates (62.5%) in the reported infections after vaccination. Of the 22 people admitted with or because of COVID-19 between July 22 and August 1, only 1 person was fully vaccinated.
