Barbados hit a new low in its response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on Thursday (October 21), as the island confirmed a record 392 new cases over the last 24 hours.

The daily case rate isn’t the only skyrocketing concern, as active cases in the CARICOM member state have never been higher.

The previous active case peak in Barbados was 789, which the country reached on February 19 during its second wave of infections owing to the introduction of the Alpha variant.

Eight months later, under the weight of the highly transmissible Delta variant, the Bajan active caseload has exploded to more than five times that rate—standing at 4,283 infections as at October 21.

With the COVID situation getting worse by the minute, Barbados has a cumulative total of 14,326 cases, which has led the Mia Mottley-led administration to aggressively push for the vaccination of more citizens as uptake slows.

The island has introduced booster doses of AstraZeneca vaccines to frontline healthcare workers, immunocompromised persons and elderly people over the age of 70, who would have already gotten the two-dose regimen from as early as the end of April this year.

According to Dr Elizabeth Ferdinand, coordinator for the National COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign, the optional measure comes as the country recognises ‘far too many people’ are testing COVID-positive in Barbados.

“This is entirely optional, it is just that we are offering it at this time. As you know, our number of [COVID] cases is escalating daily and far too many Barbadians are getting COVID. So we are trying to give that extra boost to especially older persons at this time,” she explained during a virtual press conference on Thursday.

Over the last seven days, Barbados has averaged 317 cases daily, with a positivity rate hovering around 12.9 per cent.

Coronavirus-related deaths have also seen an uptick since the current outbreak, jumping from 50 in late August to 124 as of October 20.

Some 9,919 persons have made a full recovery from the infectious disease, according to the situational update published by the Ministry of Health and Wellness.