News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Mon. April 27, 2020: The number of cases of the novel coronavirus in the Caribbean continues to increase, despite a slow down in some countries, with the total passing 10,000 last night.
According to a NAN analysis, the Caribbean now has 10,601 confirmed cases of the virus while the death tally reached 524 Sunday night.
The Dominican Republic leads the region still with the most cases, reaching 6,135 cases last night and 278 deaths.
Puerto Rico has the second highest cases of COVID-19 in the Caribbean with 1,307 cases and 83 deaths while Cuba reached 1,369 cases Monday and 54 deaths.
Jamaica has the most cases of any English-speaking Caribbean country and the fourth highest now in the region with 305 cases and 7 deaths.
Here’s where the rest of the region stacked up as of last night in terms of cases and deaths:
Martinique – 170 cases and 14 deaths
Guadeloupe – 149 cases and 12 deaths
Trinidad and Tobago – 115 plus 8 deaths
Aruba – 100 plus two deaths
French Guiana – 109 plus one death
Bermuda – 109 and 5 deaths
Barbados – 79 and 6 deaths
Sint Maarten – 74 plus 13 deaths
Guyana – 74 plus 8 deaths
Cayman Islands – 70 plus one death
Bahamas – 80 plus 11 deaths
Haiti –74 plus 6 deaths
US Virgin Islands – 57 plus 4 deaths
St. Martin – 38 plus 3 deaths
Antigua & Barbuda – 24 plus 3 deaths
Belize – 18 plus 2 deaths
Dominica – 16
St. Lucia – 15
Saint Kitts & Nevis – 15
Curacao – 16 cases plus 1 death
Grenada – 18
Vincent and the Grenadines – 14
Montserrat – 11 plus 1 death
Turks & Caicos – 11 plus 1 death
Suriname – 10 plus one death
St. Barth – 6
British Virgin Islands – 5 plus 1 death
Anguilla – 3
Sint Eustatius and Saba – 5
UNICEF
UNICEF, meanwhile, says it is stepping up donations of health and hygiene items for families and health workers in 12 Latin American and Caribbean countries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over the past three weeks, UNICEF has donated an increasing number of health and hygiene supplies to government institutions or families in 12 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean. Items locally procured and distributed included hand sanitizer, soap, water supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) as well as masks, gowns, gloves, disposable face shields, goggles and coveralls, among others.
Two weeks ago, a UNICEF humanitarian shipment also landed in Caracas, Venezuela with approximately 90 tonnes of critical health supplies, including PPE kits to enable identification of 28,000 suspected COVID-19 patients, and emergency kits for 110,000 people to treat COVID-19 patients with severe respiratory problems.
Despite extreme market conditions and logistical constraints, UNICEF is planning to ship about 52 tonnes of vital supplies to be distributed in the coming weeks and months in Latin America and the Caribbean for the COVID-19 response, including:
• 220,000 face masks
• 50,000 coveralls
• 32,400 disposable face shields
• 1,500 goggles
• 2,400 thermometers
• 5,000 tests
• 65 oxygen concentrators
In addition to the international shipments, UNICEF offices in the region are also searching for and procuring critical supplies in local markets to support domestic economies.
“The first distribution of health and hygiene items took place in countries and more is planned in the coming weeks,” said Bernt Aasen, UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean. “This pandemic is a moving target; needs are now growing day by day in each country across the region. Both globally and locally, our teams are searching for hygiene products and personal protective equipment to reach families and health workers with essential supplies as soon as possible.”
