In line with the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of reported cases keeps go­ing down in the Dutch Ca­ribbean. In January 2023, there were a mere 253 re­ported COVID-19 infec­tions, compared to 474 one month before.

The number of new COV­ID-19-related hospital ad­missions in the Dutch Ca­ribbean sharply declined. In total there were 21 ad­missions in January, com­pared to 60 in December last year, the Netherlands National Institute for Pub­lic Health and the Environ­ment RIVM stated in its Caribbean update report.

The number of persons who died from COVID-19 complications remained low. The five deaths were in Curacao and St. Maarten, though the RIVM did not specify the exact number of deaths per island. In December, there were also five deaths.

St. Maarten reported 11 positive test results in Janu­ary, five COVID-19-related admissions to hospital and fewer than five COVID – 19-related deaths. There were no intensive care ad­missions in January. In De­cember, St. Maarten had 36 persons with a confirmed COVID -19 infection.

In Curacao, 42 persons tested positive for CO­VID-19, which is signifi­cantly fewer than the 118 in December. The number of new hospital admissions declined sharply in January to fewer than five, whereas in December there were 17. Fewer than five persons died from COVID-19-re¬lated complications.

Aruba reported 115 posi­tive test results and no COVID -19-related deaths in January. In December 2022, the number of con­firmed COVID-19 cases was a lot higher: 226. In January, 11 persons were admitted to hospital in Aruba with complications due to COVID-19. In De­cember, there were 20 hos­pital admissions.

In Bonaire, 38 persons test­ed positive for COVID-19 in January, which is far few­er than the 198 confirmed infections in December. There were fewer than five hospital admissions and no COVID-19-related deaths in Bonaire in January. In December fewer than five persons died from COVID­19-related complications and 13 persons were hospitalised.

No COVID-19 infections were reported in St. Eusta­tius in January, compared to the seven in December. In Saba, there were fewer than five cases last month. Saba also had fewer than five confirmed cases in December. There were no COVID-19-related hospi­tal admissions or deaths in Saba or St. Eustatius in January.

Several subvariants and recombinants of the COV­ID-19 Omicron variant are circulating on the islands.

The Daily Herald.