News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Tues. March 17, 2020: Two people have now died from COVID-19 in the wider Caribbean region.
The Dominican Republic has registered its first death from the coronavirus, Monday. The victim was a 47-year-old woman who recently returned from Spain, the health ministry said.
The news comes as the DR last night led the region with 21 cases.
The CARICOM nation of Guyana was the first country in the wider Caribbean to register the first coronavirus death on March 11th. The victim, according to the Guyana Kaiteur News, was a woman said to be in her 50s and suffering from underlying conditions including diabetes and hypotension. She was pronounced dead at the Georgetown Public Hospital and the cause of death confirmed later that night. Reports suggest that the woman travelled from New York before March 9, 2020.
Since then, Guyana has confirmed 7 cases of the disease, mostly occurring among relatives of the deceased. Thirteen crew members of Caribbean Airlines, which flew the woman to Guyana, have been quarantined for 14 days.
American Airlines also suspended service to Guyana from both Miami and New York until May 6th.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Caribbean continues to spike with over 100 cases reported last night according to a News Americas analysis.
The Dominican Republic now leads the region with 21 cases. Jamaica and Martinique now have the second highest number of confirmed cases in the Caribbean with 15 each.
Here’s the count for other countries confirming COVID-19 cases to date:
French Guiana – 11
Guyana – 7
Guadeloupe – 6
Puerto Rico – 5
Cuba – 4
Trinidad and Tobago – 4
St. Barths – 3
Aruba – 2
Curacao – 2
St. Lucia – 2
Saint Martin – 2
Antigua & Barbuda – 1
Bahamas – 1
Cayman Islands – 1
St. Vincent and the Grenadines – 1
Suriname – 1
USVI – 1
CORONA FREE NATIONS
The only coronavirus free nations in the Caribbean currently are:
Haiti
Belize
Barbados
Grenada
Turks & Caicos
Bermuda
British Virgin Islands
Bonaire
Haiti’s health department began scanning the body temperature of incoming travelers at Port-au-Prince International Airport in Port-au-Prince on February 4, 2020.
Haiti on Monday suspended flights from Europe, Latin America and Canada and impose major restrictions on the border with the neighboring Dominican Republic to prevent the entry of the coronavirus.
Only flights to Haiti from the United States would continue for now, , Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe said on Sunday at a news conference with other government officials. The restrictions would take effect for two weeks at first, the government said.
Jouthe said that only goods would be permitted to cross the border into Haiti. Access for people would be limited.
Globally, there are now 182,457 cases and 7,158 deaths.
