By NAN Staff Writer
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Jan. 14, 2021: Over 30,000 new cases of COVID-19, likely triggered by the new omicron variant, were reported across the Caribbean region in a 24-hour period, News Americas has found.
Some 9,582 cases were reported in Puerto Rico, which topped the region.
The Dominican Republic reported the second highest number of cases at 5,983 followed by Cuba with 3,387, the third highest cases.
Jamaica added 1,342 new cases to reach 107,721 as its death toll jumped by 8 to 2,514.
Guyana added 1,186 new cases while its neighbor, Suriname, reported 1,047 new cases plus two new deaths.
Trinidad and Tobago reported 453 new cases as its closed in on 99,000 cases while its death toll jumped by 15 to 3,134.
Belize reported 940 new cases as it nears 40,000 total cases while Barbados added 577 to near 34,000 cases.
French Guiana added 954 cases to surpass 65,000 cases to date while Aruba added 514 new cases to reach almost 30,000.
The Bahamas is also nearing 30,000 cases of the virus, adding 178 more new cases yesterday.
Grenada added 365 new cases to reach almost 9,000 while Haiti reported 275 new cases as it passed 27,000 cases in total.
St. Maarten reported 515 new cases as it nears 8,000 while celebrity holiday destination St. Barths reported 564 new cases as it nears the 3,000 mark.
Turks & Caicos, another hot spot for celebrities, added 154 new cases as it past 4,600 cases.
St. Kitts & Nevis reported 161 new cases while The Caribbean Netherlands added 156 cases in total and Montserrat, 9.
The Pan American Health Organization said Wednesday it expects omicron to become the predominant coronavirus variant in the Americas in the coming weeks, where confirmed cases have reached record levels.
The health agency added that although healthcare systems face challenges with rising hospitalizations, vaccination has meant that COVID-19 deaths have not increased at the same rate as infections.
“While delta is still causing new infections in the Americas, based on current trends, omicron is on track to become the dominant strain in our region,” Carissa Etienne, director of the agency known by its initials PAHO, said during an online news conference.
PAHO said coronavirus virus infections across the Americas almost doubled to 6.1 million on Jan. 8, from 3.4 million cases on Jan. 1. The number of cases was 250% higher than a year earlier, when there were 2.4 million.
