The release states that among the 15 cases Saint Lucia recorded were individuals who fell within the category of high risk by virtue of some being elderly as well as living with chronic illness. They too, recovered well with no complications and didn’t require critical care.

As of April 21, 2020 the WHO reported a total of 2, 397, 217 confirmed cases of COVID-19 globally with 162, 956 deaths. There are now 893, 119 confirmed cases in the region of the Americas.

Laboratory testing for COVID-19 continues to be conducted both locally and with the support of the Caribbean Public Health Agency Laboratory. Saint Lucia has modified its testing strategy by testing an increased number of samples from community respiratory clinics; this would assist us in the assessment of COVID-19 locally.

Saint Lucia continues on the partial shutdown and on a 10 hour curfew from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. We remain at a very critical position in the implementation of the national response to the COVID-19 threat. Large scale public health and social measures have been implemented in an effort to break transmission of COVID-19 when in-country transmission was noted. The public must note that many of these measures need to be sustained in an effort to achieve low COVID-19 levels in country.

Some of the measures that have been instituted include school closure, national zoning to manage population movement, the closure of non-essential businesses, travel restrictions, the partial national shutdown and instituting a 24-hour curfew.

The measures recommended to guide individual risks include the use of masks, the testing, isolation, treatment and care of sick persons and the adoption of hygiene and other infection prevention measures. As seen in many of the more developed countries, even with an apparent decrease in the number of cases and the flattening of the curve, there have been periods of resurgence in their cases.