Davis Says Country Is Worst in the Region. Johnson Tells Him Not to Celebrate on First Day Back
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In his return to the House of Assembly since recovering from COVID-19, Opposition Leader Philip Davis condemned the recovery rate of the Bahamas, in its COVID-19 fight. He emphasized that the Bahamas is the “worst in the Caribbean region.”
“Don’t compare yourself to around the world. Because in so far, around the world, we are in last place as to how we are dealing with it (COVID-19). We are in last place. We are the worst off in the region in handling the COVID,” Davis said.
Davis was referring to the Global COVID-19 Index Dashboard, which ranks the Bahamas as 183 out of 184 countries. The dashboard indicates how well countries are coping with the virus.
The dashboard also list Antigua and Barbuda and St Kitts and Nevis as other Caribbean countries similar to the Bahamas in handling the virus.
Renward Wells and Elsworth Johnson beckon Davis to prove COVID claims
Wells stood up to refute Davis’ claims. He said if Davis looks at other statistics, the Bahamas is doing well. Wells said there is a 2.3% fatality rate for the virus.
This is the top tier of the 1% globally, indicating that the Bahamas is capable of dealing with Covid-19 patients.
Minister of State for Finance Elsworth Johnson added that Davis should come with solutions, insteading of “coming back the first day to say the country is the worst” which is “almost like a celebratory dance, when people are losing their lives,” Johnson said.
Why does it matter?
Health officials confirmed that the virus is rising in the country with 119 new cases on Wednesday, bringing the total confirmed cases to 4,022.
- 103 in New Providence
- 9 in Abaco
- 4 in Grand Bahama
- 2 in Exuma
- 1 in Andros
Former Health Minister Duane Sands said the Bahamas is “not winning this battle” against the virus, as not enough testing is being done.
He said the country has a case incidence rate per million, which is twice the average of all countries in the world — 8,797 per million as compared to an average of 4,075 per million.
And, the 38th highest instance of deaths of COVID-19 in the world per capita.
