News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Sat. March 21, 2020: The number of coronavirus cases in the Caribbean jumped to 276 yesterday as the Dominican Republic reported it now has 72 cases of COVID-19.
The DR added 38 cases alone Friday to its tally, though its death toll remains at 2.
The French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe now has 45 cases as it added 12 new cases Friday. Martinique’s total is now at 32 after it reported nine new cases. Authorities there say they also have 1 death to date.
Cuba’s confirmed cases jumped Friday as well to 21 but its death tally stayed at one.
Here’s the count for other countries confirming COVID-19 cases to date:
Jamaica – 19 plus one death
Guyana – 15 plus one death
French Guiana – 15
Puerto Rico – 14
Trinidad and Tobago – 9
Barbados – 6
Aruba – 5
Bahamas – 4
Suriname – 4
Saint Martin – 4
Cayman Islands – 3 plus 1 death
Curacao – 3 plus one death
USVI – 3
St. Barths – 3
Bermuda – 2
Haiti – 2
St. Lucia – 2
Antigua & Barbuda – 1
St. Vincent and the Grenadines – 1
Montserrat – 1
Sint Maarten – 1
The Caribbean now has a total of 8 deaths.
CORONA FREE NATIONS
The only coronavirus free nations in the Caribbean currently are:
Belize
Grenada
Turks & Caicos
Anguilla
The British Virgin Islands
Globally, there are now 275,541 cases of the virus with 11,385 deaths worldwide.
CARIBBEAN HOTEL
The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA), meanwhile, is urging its stakeholders to take advantage of coronavirus (COVID-19) resources it has set up to contain the spread of the virus in the region, and reminded the world of the Caribbean tourism sector’s proven ability to strongly bounce back from adversity.
Recalling the association’s experience in dealing with emergencies, CHTA’s CEO and Director General Frank Comito, and Patricia Affonso-Dass, President of CHTA, reported that immediately upon understanding the potential threat of COVID-19 in January, the association reached out to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) to begin to put in place monitoring, education and awareness initiatives. The association also advanced and implemented measures to ensure the safety of its employees.
In a joint statement, Comito and Affonso-Dass pointed to online resources available to help the industry manage the crisis. Many of these, along with updates on travel advisories, airline and hotel cancellations, and other notices can be found at the CHTA COVID-19 Resource Center at www.caribbeanhotelandtourism.com/covid-19.
