By NAN Staff Writer
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Aug. 14, 2020: Over 2,200 new coronavirus cases were reported across more than a dozen Caribbean countries Thursday, as the virus continues to spread in both destinations that have reopened their borders and those that have not.
The death toll yesterday also rose in the region with 9 countries reporting nearly 40 new deaths Thursday alone.
The Dominican Republic added another 910 new cases yesterday to now surpass 83,000 as its death toll neared 1,400.
The second highest number of new cases in the region Thursday was reported in Puerto Rico, which added 564 new cases to reach 24,446. It’s death tally also increased by 8 to reach 306.
The third highest number of new cases was reported in Suriname, where the South American CARICOM nation added a whopping 108 new cases to send its total confirmed case load to 2,761. It’s death toll also up ticked by 1 to reach 40.
Aruba, which reopened int borders in July, reported 96 new cases Thursday, the fourth highest in the region, to reach 894 confirmed cases. The island’s death toll also increased by 1 to reach 4.
Belize, whose borders remain closed, saw 86 new cases Thursday as it up ticked to 296confirmed cases. But its death total remained at 2.
Trinidad and Tobago, which has kept its borders closed since March, but held an election on Monday, added 78 new cases Thursday to reach 404. But its death tally remained at 8.
The Bahamas, which opened and then closed its borders to American tourists, saw the seventh highest new cases regionwide yesterday, adding 53 new cases to reach 1,089. But its death toll stayed at 15.
French Guiana, which has seen a continued upward spike, added 48 new cases, the eighth highest regionally yesterday as it reached 8,471 confirmed cases. The French Caribbean territory also reported a new death to reach 51 deaths to date.
Cuba, which has seen a new spike since July, added 46 new cases Thursday to climb to 3,174 confirmed cases as its death toll increased by 1 to reach 89.
Haiti reported 38 new cases Thursday as its confirmed case load reached 7,781. But it saw the third highest number of deaths in the region, reporting five to climb to 192 deaths to date.
Sint Martin, which reopened its borders to tourists, saw 29 new cases Thursday to now reach 248. Still its death tally remained at 17.
Jamaica, which remains also open to international travel, added 18 new cases to uptick to 1,065 to date but its death toll remained at 14.
The Turks and Caicos, which has seen an uptick in new cases since reopening its borders in July, added another 17 new cases yesterday to reach 241 confirmed cases.But the islands have seen only 2 deaths.
Guyana and Saint Martin both reported 8 new cases to reach 631 and 92, respectively. Their death toll remained at 22 and 4.
The U.S. Virgin Islands, which reopened its borders to tourists in June, now has 682 cases but its death tally remains at 9. Yesterday, Governor Governor Albert Bryan Jr. announced the U.S. Virgin Islands was closing its doors once again to leisure visitors, effective Wednesday, August 19, 2020, for a period of at least one month. Effective immediately, hotels, villas, Airbnb accommodations, guest houses, temporary vacation housing and charter vessels and similar businesses have been ordered not to accept or book any new reservations for 30 days. As of Wednesday, August 19, 2020, accommodations providers are barred from admitting or checking-in any guests for 30 days unless the order is lifted sooner.
Reservations may only be accepted for business travelers, flight crews, emergency personnel, and government workers with written authorization from the relevant government agency they are visiting.
Gov. Bryan said the territory will revert to the “Stay-at-Home” (Orange alert) phase of its COVID-19 response, for the next two weeks, at which time it will be re-evaluated. He also announced that on Monday, August 17, 2020, all non-essential businesses and churches must cease operations and the public, including non-essential public sector workers, must stay at home.
COVID FREE CARIBBEAN ISLANDS
But it’s not all doom and gloom as five Caribbean islands are among the world’s COVID-19 free nations. They are Saint Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, Anguilla, Dominica and Montserrat which join Vatican City, Macao, Greenland and Falkland Islands as the only corona-free destinations globally with 0 active cases as of Thursday, Aug. 13, 2020.
