BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE outbreak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in St. Lucia is not yet under control, and the situation is being described as far from that, as yesterday (Jan. 31) the territory recorded more than 200 confirmed cases.
With the territory identifying the cases of the UK strain of the virus, which is said to be 70 percent more contagious, to some health experts it was no surprise that 216 positive cases were reported yesterday - pushing the total number of confirmed cases to 1,411.
The Ministry of Health in Castries reported that the Ezra Long Laboratory continues to manage the backlog of COVID-19 samples, and it was from a batch of 541 s tested that the 216 positives cases were reported.
That batch, according to the Ministry, consisted of samples taken over a nine-day period - from January 21 to January 29.
St. Lucia, unlike St. Kitts and Nevis, reopened its borders very early and did not have stringent COVID-19 measures when flights were allowed to enter the island, including those from the United Kingdom.
The territory was running low on funds, resulting in a number of measures being implemented to ensure that public servants were paid, among which were the early reopening of the borders to flights from hot spot areas.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health also received confirmation of the recovery of eight individuals diagnosed with COVID-19, bringing the total number of active in-country cases to 769.
“The individual who was in critical care over the course of the past week is no longer in the Intensive Care Unit and is currently stable. Today, The Ministry also reports that two of the active cases required admission into critical care and all of the others are stable,” the Ministry said.
The Ministry added: “All of the cases are Saint Lucian nationals who range in age from 8 years to 82 years. These cases are from all districts nationally. These individuals were seen at community-based respiratory clinics for assessment and were tested for COVID-19. They were placed in quarantine by health care practitioners while awaiting their COVID-19 test results. Arrangements have since been made to place them into isolation. The contact tracing team has commenced investigations to identify the contacts of these confirmed cases.”
The island also recorded two additional deaths, bringing the total number to 15.
Records show that the death number 14, is that of a 72-year-old male from the Gros-Islet district with no known medical history, while death number15 is a 21-year-old male from the Babonneau district, also with no known medical history.
