BVI’s active COVID cases climb to 90

There have been more than a dozen additional COVID-19 cases recorded in the territory since a few short days ago when there were 77 active cases.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Health Minister Carvin Malone said: “I am reporting that there is a rise in total. There are 90 positive cases. Indeed, we are not out of the woods. Ladies and gentlemen, I remind you to be vigilant. COVID-19 positive cases are on the rise regional and internationally as well.”

Malone noted there has been a 0.6 per cent increase in cases of COVID-19 in the Caribbean, according to statistics from the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA).

He said CARPHA reported the risk remains high of a further increase in cases in the region.

“Therefore, countries must continue to focus on interrupting viral transmission and reducing mortality associated with COVID-19. We are not out of the woods. Here at home, I feel the need to remind us about the surge we had back in July that claimed the lives of 38 of our families, our friends and loved ones. We do not want another situation to befall us,” Malone said.

“We are in the midst of the holiday season and traditionally, it is a time filled with mass gatherings, love, laughter and close contact. But these are not normal times. We are not in a normal situation and we cannot proceed as normal. We have to follow the Public Health protocols that have been given or guiding us well over the past two years. Let us not stray away from that,” the Health Minister added.

Meanwhile, the Acting Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Ronald Georges reported a lack of adherence to existing health protocols over the last several weeks.

“As the minister said, we currently have 90 active cases in the country and that is an increase over the last couple of weeks. But as he did mention, we are in the Christmas season and we do tend to have a lot of gatherings and persons in the festive seasons congregate a lot. What we have noticed over the last couple of weeks is a laxity of adherence to measures among the general population,” Georges said.

To date, there have been 2,922 positive cases in the BVI since the start of the pandemic. There have also been 2,793 recoveries and 39 deaths. The latest of these deaths was reported in the past week.

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