…case numbers increasing
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - GRENADA could be in for a long fight to combat the outbreak of the Coronavirus, which has been linked to a tourist who recently entered the island and is believed to have infected a hotel staff.
As of yesterday morning (Dec. 18), the island recorded nine more positive cases, and sources on the island believe that it may just be the tip of the iceberg as nearly 1,000 people have been tested for the virus, all of whom are suspected to be linked to the initial cluster of 26.
In its statement, the Ministry of Health revealed that the laboratory diagnosis of nine new positive cases of COVID-19.
“Based on the size of the cluster and vigorous contact [t]racing efforts, the number of positive cases is constantly changing, as more tests are being conducted and many other individuals are carded to be retested in the coming days.
“The number of positive cases currently on the island is now forty-five (45) and are reflected as follows:
• At last update on December 15th, there were 44 active cases. Since then, one person has been medically cleared.
• Further, seven guests at Sandals Grenada who tested positive, have since left the island. They did so before results were obtained.
• Therefore, as of December 16, there was a total of 36 active cases on island.
• Today, December 17, a further nine cases were diagnosed, bringing the total of active cases to 45.”
The island had recorded 94 positive cases of COVID-19 since, but now SKNVibes News has learnt that a number of the newly infected cases are in the Intensive Care Unit.
Those persons are linked to the initial cluster and media reports indicated that children are also in the ICU.
Officials at St. Georges University confirmed one case on the campus, which was a contractor undertaking work on the site. He has since been placed in isolation.
Reports surfaced that he is a contact of one of the persons who were in the initial cluster.
Meanwhile, health officials and those at Sandals are now scratching their heads to figure out how seven of the nine new cases were able to leave the island without the necessary approvals.
The Hotel Chain has refuted media reports and those from the Government linking the cluster case to the hotel’s management and screening tourists for the virus.
Sandals Grenada General Manager, Peter Fraser said in a statement: “We take this COVID-19 pandemic very seriously, and we implore that the dissemination of information to the public be rational and based on facts.”
