(CNS): As 2023 gets underway and three years after the COVID-19 virus arrived in the Cayman Islands, variants of the original strain are still infecting dozens of people here. According to the latest edition of the Public Health Department’s Spotlight report, the highly contagious XBB variant has been detected in local samples here but the BA.5 variant dominates the cases. Hospital admissions fell in December, according to official figures, but there was an increase at the end of the month. There were 16 COVID-related admissions in December compared to 17 in November. One patient died but none were admitted to the ICU or required ventilation.
Since the first confirmed case and death in Cayman in February 2020, 38 people have died as a result of complications relating to the virus and more than 31,500 cases have been officially reported.
According to the latest genomic sequencing results from over 300 COVID-19 samples from October and November, the Omicron variant…
