St Vincent and the Grenadines Chief Medical Officer Dr Simone Keizer-Beache says the island is heading for a spike in COVID cases, as was seen in neighbouring Grenada.
Keizar-Beache on Wednesday said health officials are looking at the current figures with great concern.
The island reported 99 new COVID 19 cases on Thursday, with total deaths now standing at 33.
The CMO stated that two wards have already been utilized at the country’s leading health facility to house COVID patients, and a third one is being sought.
“A third ward is being sought because we are seeing more and more patients coming in that need care. Argyle Isolation Facility is already filled”.
“It’s a significant blow to the health system; it now impacts our ability to offer other types of care”.
The CMO stated that health officials are looking at the figures daily, and there is no sign that we are flattening the curve.
“Right now, the figures are on the exponential side of things. We ask persons because of the Gamma, Mu and Delta to double mask, fully vaccinated persons are asked to double mask. I would also advise that persons wear a properly fitting mask, and if you are using a cloth mask, it should be doubled or, if not, use the N95”.
Thursday’s report from the Ministry of Health stated that there are currently twenty-three (23) patients admitted for COVID-19 at the Argyle Isolation Facility. Twenty-one (21) are unvaccinated, and two (2) patients are fully vaccinated.
Twenty-one patients are admitted to the COVID-19 wards at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital. Nineteen patients are unvaccinated, and two (2) patients are partially vaccinated.
Keziar-Beache said the only way the island would overcome COVID-19 is by strictly following the protocols and vaccination.
How much more effective is double masking?
The recommendation for double masking is based on the findings of a CDC study trusted Source. This study looked at ways to improve mask fit to reduce exposure to SARS-CoV-2.
In the study above, coughing and breathing were simulated using a device that produced aerosol particles that the researchers could quantify after the experiment was completed.
Coughing simulation
In the coughing simulation above, researchers evaluated the effectiveness of:
a cloth mask alone
a surgical mask alone
a cloth mask covering a surgical mask (double mask)
Researchers found that when a cough was simulated, the double mask blocked 85.4 percent of the aerosol particles. This is compared to 51.4 percent and 56.1 percent for the cloth and surgical mask, respectively.
Breathing simulation
The breathing simulation investigated several situations using two models of a human head. One of the models generated aerosol particles (source) while the other was exposed to them (recipient).
Researchers found that:
When the source was wearing a double mask and the recipient was not, the aerosol exposure of the unmasked recipient was reduced by 82.2 percent.
When the recipient was wearing a double mask and the source was not, the aerosol exposure of the double masked recipient was reduced by 83 percent.
When both the source and the recipient wore a double mask, aerosol exposure was reduced by 96.4 percent.
Why you should double mask In summary, researchers found two important things:
When compared to either a cloth mask or a surgical mask alone, wearing a double mask was more effective at reducing aerosol exposure from coughing.
Aerosol exposure through breathing was drastically reduced when both a source and recipient were wearing a double mask.
