Outbreaks of coronavirus infections have been reported in the Caribbean territories of Dominican Republic, St. Barts, and French St. Martin. Executives of CARICOM revealed this at an emergency meeting in Barbados where Barbados PM Mia Motley revealed the regions response to the cases.
The emergency meeting included the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS), as well as representatives of the ship cruise industry.
Director of PAHO, Dr. Carissa Ettiene, that “In the region of the Americas, we have cases in the United States and Canada. There were 2 cases reported in Brazil. We now have 6 cases in Ecuador, 3 cases in the Dominican Republic, 4 cases in Mexico, 2 cases in St. Martin and I case in St. Barts. Many of the cases are related to the outbreak in Italy”.
The case in the Dominican Republic was caused by a 62-year-old Italian tourist who arrived capital Santo Domingo from a flight from Milan, Italy. The man exhibited symptoms and tests confirmed he is positive with the disease; he has been isolated at a military hospital for further care. Meanwhile, the government of Dominican Republic has cancelled all flights going to or returning from Italy until further notice.
The Institute Pasteur Laboratory in Guadeloupe confirmed the cases in St. Barts and French St. Martin after due tests. Two parents who visited their son in St. Barthelemy of St. Barts tested positive to the disease with their son when they were about to return to France, so they were isolated at the Louis-Constant Fleming Hospital in St. Martin for proper monitoring.
“We are setting out clear boundaries and responsibilities for individual partners, to increase our capacity to detect, increase our capacity to manage and increase our capacity to contain [the Coronavirus,” said Mia Motley as drastic measure for CARICOM to deal with the disease.
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