On Friday, April 10, 2020 Saint Lucia confirmed one additional case of COVID-19 bringing our national total to fifteen. A total of 24 samples were tested with one positive and twenty three negatives. This new positive case of COVID-19 is an 18 year old male who was in close contact with a previously confirmed case. He was initially placed in home quarantine and upon developing symptoms was taken in for testing and isolated. Contact tracing for this case is on-going.
Currently, Saint Lucia has a total of 32 persons in quarantine and 19 in isolation. All COVID-19 cases currently in isolation continue to do well and respond well to treatment. None have complicated or required respiratory support. We continue to record zero deaths. Four of our previously confirmed cases have recovered clinically and through laboratory diagnosis and have been discharged from the isolation facility.
Respiratory clinics nationally continue to function well, receiving a number of persons on a daily basis who present with flu-like symptoms. Samples are taken at these clinics for persons who are assessed and to clinically determine whether they meet the criteria for testing for COVID19. The respiratory clinics have proven to be effective in streamlining patients for testing and care as may be required. This is complemented with active surveillance in communities to identify potential cases of COVID-19 and to bring persons in for testing.
On April 9, 2020 the Ministry of Health & Wellness in collaboration with the Office of the Prime Minister launched a website which serves as a dedicated COVID-19 virtual repository. This website aims to provide the public with information on COVID-19 and recent updates on the national response. The site can be accessed on www.covid19response.lc.
As of April 9, 2020, the World Health Organization reported a total of 1,436,198 confirmed cases of COVID-19 globally with a total of 85,522 deaths. There are now 454,710 confirmed cases in the region of the Americas. The affected region includes Dominican Republic (1956), Haiti (27), Barbados (63), Jamaica (63), Cuba (457), Dominica (15), Grenada (12), Trinidad and Tobago (107), Guyana (33), Antigua and Barbuda (19), Bahamas (36), Saint Vincent and Grenadines (8), Martinique (152), US Virgin Islands (45), Cayman Islands (45).
The community of Black Bay, Vieux Fort, were awaken to the sound of multiple gun shots in the wee hours of this Good Friday morning.