Minister of Health Dr. Christopher Tufton on Sunday (August 8) said that leave for some hospital workers would be deferred, as the country grapples with what is being deemed the “third wave” of the virus.

Deferring leaves are just one of the measures announced by Tufton, who further shared that the country’s vaccination programme would resume on Monday (August 9).

“Hospitals across the island are seeing an increase in COVID-19 cases. In anticipation of further increases in bed occupancy, the Regional Health Authorities have been advised to review and revise leave rosters to ensure that there is adequate staff coverage,” he said.

“This measure, together with the resumption of vaccinations, is being implemented as the Ministry activates its surge plan to cope with the third wave of COVID-19 now impacting the island,” he added.

In addition, Tufton shared that some non-elective procedures are likely to be rescheduled as hospitals place priority on treating COVID-19 patients.

The island on Saturday (August 7) registered 379 new COVID-19 infections and three deaths increasing the overall total number of infections to 54,859 .

In addition, all the major hospitals island wide are over 100 per cent of their isolation capacity for confirmed and suspected COVID-19 cases.

To date 372,911 vaccines have been administered, of that number, 240,472 are first doses, 131,554 are second doses.

The Health Ministry is hoping to administer some 700,000 doses of the vaccine by the end of September, in pursuit of meeting its March 2022 target, which would see 65 per cent of the population vaccinated.