by Linda Straker
- At height of Covid-19 pandemic Grenada recorded over 200 Covid-19-related deaths
- 2 Covid-19 related deaths recorded during February 2024
- Records show there was one dengue death
Dr Shawn Charles, Chief Medical Officer in the Ministry of Health, has confirmed that the country recorded 2 Covid-19 related deaths during February 2024. Currently, there is no increase in the number of cases when compared to the first 4 weeks of the year.
“We did see a small spike in cases up to the third and fourth weeks of the year, since then cases are progressively decreasing. In essence the pattern of cases that we are seeing mirrors that of what we saw last year,” Dr Charles disclosed during a Ministry of Health news conference on 28 February.
During Week 1 or the period 1–8 January 2024, there were 17 cases, and by week 4 the number was 39 according to the weekly Epidemiology Bulletin. “Sometime around January, late January, we were able to identify the variants that have been in circulation which is the most common variant in circulation at the time in the world, which is the JN.1,” Dr Charles said. He explained that the identified variant has been circulating locally but the majority of cases have been very mild. “We have not seen a huge impact or huge pressures on our health systems. Parallel to this we have not seen an increase in admission for covid related diseases.”
“We have had a small number of admissions in individuals who went to hospital for other reasons but because we are testing all of our patients that go to the wards, we sometimes identify them incidentally.” Dr Charles later confirmed the 2 deaths but did not provide the sex nor the age range for the deceased.
At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the country recorded over 200 Covid-19-related deaths. The figures are yet to be released for the year 2023.
Grenada, according to the Ministry of Health, is currently contending with 2 other outbreaks besides Covid-19: dengue fever and acute respiratory infections. Records show that there was 1 dengue death.