With the confirmation of the Omicron coronavirus (COVID-19) variant in 25 countries and territories, and its ‘presumptive presence’ in seven others, the Caribbean has yet again been dominated by the raging pandemic. 

The white-hot, record-breaking third wave outbreak sees a continuation of triple-figure cases in all but seven of the 32 affected countries and territories (Antigua and Barbuda, Haiti, Montserrat, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica, Sint Maarten and St Kitts and Nevis).

Entering its 73rd week of maintaining mostly closed cases, the Caribbean has an estimated 885,932 active cases—the highest at any point of the regional pandemic response.

Guadeloupe has emerged as the newest hotspot, with infections still trending high in Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Martinique, Guyana, Suriname and Belize.

For the third consecutive week, new cases (170,925) again over tripled their closed counterparts (47,987) recorded regionally in the last seven days.

Further analysis of regional data finds all 32 affected countries and territories have reported new cases within the last 48 hours. Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago rank as the five worst-hit territories in the region. 

As at 3:24 pm Greenwich Meridian Time (GMT) on Friday, January 21, collated data from respective health departments across the region has indicated a combined total of 2,864,749 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Of that number, some 1,978,817 cases, or roughly 69.07 per cent, have officially been declared closed. There are an estimated regionally.

The statistics were largely the result of patients across the Caribbean reporting a full recovery from the infectious disease (1,947,378 recoveries to date, barring insufficient data from Puerto Rico and France’s overseas territories region-wide).

In the meantime, the total number of patients who succumbed to coronavirus-related complications spiked to 31,439.

So far, checks across the Caribbean by Our Today, have noted the confirmation of Omicron in Montserrat, Anguilla, Sint Maarten, Antigua and Barbuda, Cuba, Bermuda, Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago, US Virgin Islands, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Belize, French Guiana, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, The Bahamas, Curaçao, Aruba, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Cayman Islands, Barbados and St Martin. 

The variant of concern is presumed ‘present’ in the local populations of Turks and Caicos Islands, Haiti, Guyana, St Lucia, Suriname, and Jamaica. The word is still out, however, on the possible Omicron status of the British Virgin Islands.

See Our Today’s latest situational analysis on COVID-19 in the Caribbean below:

Cuba: 3,392 new cases; 1,015,203 confirmed. 8,353 patients have died. (986,012 recoveries)

Dominican Republic: 6,363 new cases; 530,998 confirmed. 4,279 patients have died. (492,254 patients have recovered)

Puerto Rico: 4,354 new cases; 428,009 confirmed. 3,593 patients have died. (*No information available on recoveries)

Jamaica: 773 new cases; 117,717 confirmed. 2,568 patients have died. (68,079 recoveries)

Trinidad and Tobago: 1,063 new cases; 104,005 confirmed. 3,256 patients have died. (83,400 recoveries)

Guadeloupe: 16,431 new cases; 94,765 confirmed. 763 patients have died. (2,250 recoveries)

Martinique: 1,872 new cases; 75,227 confirmed. 819 patients have died. (124 recoveries)

French Guiana: 712 new cases; 72,188 confirmed. 357 patients have died. (9,995 recoveries)

Suriname: 792 new cases; 68,560 confirmed. 1,228 patients have died. (49,190 recoveries)

Guyana: 819 new cases; 54,736 confirmed. 1,111 patients have died. (41,661 recoveries)

Belize: 814 new cases; 44,959 confirmed. 607 patients have died. (32,139 recoveries)

Barbados: 559 new cases; 37,622 confirmed. 273 patients have died. (31,234 recoveries)

Curaçao: 422 new cases; 35,307 confirmed. 210 patients have died. (23,324 recoveries)

The Bahamas: 222 new cases; 31,915 confirmed. 726 patients have died. (23,470 recoveries)

Aruba: 232 new cases; 31,185 confirmed. 187 patients have died. (30,492 recoveries)

Haiti: 87 new cases; 28,117 confirmed. 780 patients have died. (24,217 recoveries)

St Lucia: 424 new cases; 18,746 confirmed. 316 patients have died. (14,504 recoveries)

US Virgin Islands: 130 new cases; 14,158 confirmed. 94 patients have died. (12,608 recoveries)

Cayman Islands: 2,200 new cases; 11,049 confirmed. 15 patients have died. (7,067 recoveries)

Grenada: 253 new cases; 10,960 confirmed. 205 patients have died. (8,047 recoveries)

Bermuda: 622 new cases; 9,766 confirmed. 110 patients have died. (6,549 recoveries)

St Martin: 1,580 new cases; 9,143 confirmed. 60 patients have died. (1,399 recoveries)

Sint Maarten: 68 new cases; 8,965 confirmed. 77 patients have died. (7,012 recoveries)

Dominica: 93 new cases; 8,349 confirmed. 48 patients have died. (7,569 recoveries)

St Vincent and the Grenadines: 11 new cases; 6,615 confirmed. 90 patients have died. (5,652 recoveries)

Antigua and Barbuda: 74 new cases; 5,815 confirmed. 122 patients have died. (4,501 recoveries)

British Virgin Islands: 153 new cases; 5,602 confirmed. 47 patients have died. (4,694 recoveries)

Turks & Caicos Islands: 171 new cases; 5,442 confirmed. 32 patients have died. (4,723 recoveries)

St Kitts and Nevis: 49 new cases; 5,190 confirmed. 28 patients have died. (4,392 recoveries)

Saint-Barthélemy: 220 new cases; 3,282 confirmed. Six patients have died. (462 recoveries)

Anguilla: 78 new cases; 2,187 confirmed. Seven patients have died. (1,997 recoveries)

Montserrat: One new case; 152 confirmed. One patient has died. (112 recoveries)

NB: There are no countries without active cases at this time