Nothing happened at the Press Conference on January 5th, 2022. There is reason for concern because of the high number of positive cases in the current 5th wave, said the First Servant.
There is no need to panic because we can get past this, as we have before.
The reason, as you know, Omicron is a less lethal version of the Alpha and/or Delta, and GOA made a decision to just manage the pandemic with the more contagious variety, under the assumption that it results in less severe illness.
What determines GOA’s decision is the hospitalization rate, which is under control.
As far as stats go, we’ve had 670 average new cases per day, over the past 7 days, and climbing, with a positivity rate of 61%.
From what I read, around the world, leaders have accepted the fact that the virus cannot be eradicated, but it’s damage mitigated, so that less people are hospitalized and less people die.
Bottom line, current measures remain in place going forward, and schools will be opening with a slight delay, on January 10th.
The island was obviously warned that the CDC will eventually rate Aruba less favorably than before and tourism will be affected. But on the bright side, those who will come for a visit will have a good time due to the fact that the industry here provides great care and good service to those brave enough to travel.
According to MinPres the true and trusted means by which we fight the pandemic are vaccines, protecting against severe symptoms — which are now available for all 12+ and booster shots for all 40+, hygiene, facemasks, social distancing, and frequent hand washing. It’s all as important as ever, she declared.
The Minister of Public Health, was among Press Conference presenters commenting on unwelcome remarks by the director of the hospital. The later publicly expressed his reservations regarding the effectiveness of the vaccine, comments refuted by the data collected on island and around the globe. The director’s comments, spoken out of place and without authority were also criticized by the island’s Outbreak Management Team, the hospital’s medical team, and they published their disagreement with the director, and his comments, wholeheartedly recommending the vaccine.
The DVG representative elaborated regarding current isolation/quarantine rules: A 5-day isolation period is required for positive cases starting on the day of the positive result. If on the 5th day the person has no symptoms, they are automatically released from isolation and can go back to work.
Co-habitants of a positive case, must quarantine for 5 days — the notification in the Health App may be shown to their employer. If no symptoms persist at end of 5 days, the person can go back to work. At work, everyone needs to continue maintaining social distance and using facemasks to limit contagion.
According to DVG, Omicron’s contagion rate is double that of Delta. The hospitalization rate will increase in the near future by nature of having more people infected.
