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The Omicron variant of the coronavirus (COVID-19) threatens to bring the entire Caribbean to its knees as countries and territories regionally experience the worst-ever spike in cases since the pandemic began.

Daily cases are seeing an exponential increase across all 32 affected countries and territories this week, with only four (Anguilla, Montserrat, Haiti and Turks and Caicos Islands) recording double-digit figures.

Puerto Rico, punished by Omicron, set a new record for the Caribbean, being the first territory to confirm 19,938 new cases in a single day on Sunday, January 2.

With the situation more likely to worsen before it improves, the Caribbean’s fourth wave continues to chip away at gains made across the basin. Still, a sliver of hope holds as the region hit its 70th week of maintaining mostly closed cases.

So far, checks across the Caribbean by Our Today, have noted the confirmation of Omicron in 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 Haiti, Guyana, St Lucia, Suriname, British Virgin Islands and Jamaica. The word is still out, however, on the possible Omicron status of Montserrat and Anguilla.

Indicative the accelerated rate of spread, over the last seven days more than eight times as many new infections (184,113) were recorded than closed cases (22,908) regionally.

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 4:06 pm Greenwich Meridian Time (GMT) on Friday, January 7, collated data from respective health departments across the region has indicated a combined total of 2,470,923 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Of that number, some 1,860,117 cases, or roughly 75,28 per cent, have officially been declared closed. There are an estimated 610,806 active cases regionally.

The statistics were largely the result of patients across the Caribbean reporting a full recovery from the infectious disease (1,829,606 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 30,511.

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

Confirmed cases to date: 2,470,923
Deaths: 30,511
Recoveries: 1,829,606*
Active cases: 610,806*

*—Data from Health Departments and Agencies across the Caribbean. (Full or partial recovery statistics have not been forthcoming from Puerto Rico, Guadeloupe, St Martin, French Guiana, Saint-Barthélemy and Martinique)

Cuba: 1,946 new cases; 972,513 confirmed. 8,325 patients have died. (958,913 recoveries)

Dominican Republic: 5,968 new cases; 444,985 confirmed. 4,253 patients have died. (411,653 patients have recovered)

Puerto Rico: 14,560 new cases; 327,742 confirmed. 3,338 patients have died. (*No information available on recoveries)

Jamaica: 1,269 new cases; 99,463 confirmed. 2,489 patients have died. (66,313 recoveries)

Trinidad and Tobago: 883 new cases; 95,096 confirmed. 2,992 patients have died. (76,348 recoveries)

Guadeloupe: 3,320 new cases; 59,355 confirmed. 752 patients have died. (2,250 recoveries)

Suriname: 665 new cases; 56,041 confirmed. 1,195 patients have died. (49,099 recoveries)

French Guiana: 1,345 new cases; 55,701 confirmed. 342 patients have died. (9,995 recoveries)

Martinique: 772 new cases; 51,840  confirmed. 788 patients have died. (124 recoveries)

Guyana: 967 new cases; 42,385 confirmed. 1,064 patients have died. (37,866 recoveries)

Belize: 579 new cases; 35,206 confirmed. 607 patients have died. (30,856 recoveries)

Barbados: 420 new cases; 30,597 confirmed. 264 patients have died. (28,130 recoveries)

The Bahamas: 421 new cases; 27,122 confirmed. 717 patients have died. (21,993 recoveries)

Haiti: 45 new cases; 26,304 confirmed. 774 patients have died. (23,531 recoveries)

Aruba: 1,044 new cases; 25,254 confirmed. 181 patients have died. (20,802 recoveries)

Curaçao: 1,056 new cases;  24,748 confirmed. 189 patients have died. (18,837 recoveries)

St Lucia: 183 new cases; 14,414 confirmed. 305 patients have died. (13,330 recoveries)

US Virgin Islands: 643 new cases; 11,833 confirmed. 89 patients have died. (8,436 recoveries)

Cayman Islands: 466 new cases; 10,186 confirmed. 12 patients have died. (5,237 recoveries)

Grenada: 276 new cases; 7,377 confirmed. 200 patients have died. (5,730 recoveries)

Dominica: 104 new cases; 7,241 confirmed. 47 patients have died. (6,597 recoveries)

Bermuda: 255 new cases; 7,191 confirmed. 110 patients have died. (5,970 recoveries)

St Vincent and the Grenadines: 208 new cases; 6,247 confirmed. 83 patients have died. (5,421 recoveries)

Sint Maarten: 168 new cases; 6,113 confirmed. 75 patients have died. (4,958 recoveries)

St Martin: 1,104 reported new cases; 5,148 confirmed. 57 patients have died. (1,399 recoveries)

Antigua and Barbuda: 229 new cases; 4,715 confirmed. 119 patients have died. (4,097 recoveries)

British Virgin Islands: 447 new cases; 4,207 confirmed. 40 patients have died. (3,209 recoveries)

St Kitts and Nevis: 238 new cases; 3,904 confirmed. 28 patients have died. (2,946 recoveries)

Turks & Caicos Islands: 75 new cases; 3,755 confirmed. 26 patients have died. (3,356 recoveries)

Saint-Barthélemy: 435 new cases; 2,363 confirmed. Six patients have died. (462 recoveries)

Anguilla: 75 new cases; 1,777 confirmed. Six patients have died. (1,702 recoveries)

Montserrat: 10 new cases; 100 confirmed. One patient has died. (46 recoveries)

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