Health Minister Carvin Malone said the application will work in conjunction with a special area that is to be developed near the lobby area of the Dr D Orlando Smith Hospital.

“Arrangements are being finalised to launch a patient application for android and iPhone to assist patients who may be diagnosed [in a] constructed screening and assessment area outside the emergency room,” the minister said during a live public broadcast on Wednesday.

“Its capacity is 20 to 30 mild cases per hour with actual severe cases being referred into the emergency room,” he added.

Nine ICU Ventilators

The Health Minister further said government received four new Hamilton C3 mechanical ventilators for the hospital. This now increases the total ventilator bed capacity in the intensive care unit to nine.

“Two of the new ventilators were purchased with special funds approved by the Cabinet and made available by the Ministry of Finance and the kind compliments of the Minister of Finance,” Malone stated.

“The additional two were special donations from Dr Henry Jarecki. I wish to publicly acknowledge and thank Dr Jarecki for his kindness and generosity towards the people of the Virgin Islands,” he added.

These new developments add to the existing 14-bed isolation ward at the Dr D Orlando Smith Hospital, the PCR testing equipment to conduct in-island COVID-19 testing, the trained contact tracing and surveillance personnel, and the hundreds of test kits made available through donations from regional and international organisations.