Passport Office Reopens After COVID-19 Exposure Causes Death

The Passport Office reopened on Wednesday following the death of an employee reportedly exposed to COVID-19.

The Thompson Blvd office was shut down for two days after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs advised the public of COVID-19 exposure in the building.

In a statement, the ministry said, “several positive COVID cases of employees” were identified, while acknowledging “the unfortunate passing of an employee.”

The two-day shut was to allow the Ministry of Health Surveillance Team to conduct a contact tracing assessment of the staff.

This comes as the country sees COVID-19 cases rise exponentially.

Prime Minister Hubert Minnis described it as “concerning” and stated that the pandemic is attacking the unvaccinated.

He said the country is seeking to access more vaccines to protect the unvaccinated.

“One thing the Bahamian populace must understand, we are in two pandemics. The vaccinated individuals are now out of the pandemic. The pandemic is finished for the vaccinated.

“The non-vaccinated are still in the pandemic. Therefore, it is essential for us to aggressively pursue vaccines so that we can vaccinate our populace as quickly and efficiently as possible so that they can move into the vaccinated portion, thus the non-pandemic,” he said.

At last report, 81 new cases were confirmed in the country—55 in New Providence, 19 in Grand Bahama, 2 in Abaco, and 4 in Bimini and Cat Cay.