Last Updated on March 30, 2020, 9:31 AM AST by Anthony Morris
The Chief Medical Officer of Saint Lucia’s Ministry of Health, Dr Sharon Belmar-George, provided an update on Sunday regarding COVID-19.
The Ezra Long Laboratory at the Owen King EU Hospital on March 29, reported the presence of five new cases of COVID-19 coronavirus.
The Chief Medical Officer has said that these cases now bring the total number of COVID-19 coronavirus cases recorded nationwide to nine.
She said that four out of the total five cases all have travel history to either New York, Dominica or Barbados, the fifth case is of a 74-year-old female who did not have any travel history or known contact with anyone with travel history.
She said that as the fifth case has no travel history or known contact with anyone with travel history, this confirmes the existence of local transmission in the country.
She also said that aggressive tracing of the contacts of these cases is underway by health teams dispatched for the communities of interest.
Last week, Saint Lucia had started national testing for COVID-19 coronavirus. This allows an increase in the number of persons tested, the Chief Medical Officer explained, adding that all tests for COVID-19 coronavirus are free of charge.
The Health Ministry has requested the public of the country to follow the sanitation and healthcare guidelines which include,
regular washing of hands with soap and use of water or alcohol-based hand sanitizer in cases where soap and water are not available.
The people have been advised to cover their mouth and nose with disposable tissues or clothing when coughing and sneezing and disposing of the tissue after use.
It also suggested avoiding close contact with any person who is showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as sneezing and coughing.
Also, the people have been advised to get medical attention and to share their travel history with their health care provider and the authorities if they have symptoms which point towards respiratory illness either during or after travel.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
