News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Mon. May 4, 2020: Several Caribbean nations are showing positive signs that they are flattening the curve of the dreaded new coronavirus, a silver lining for a region that has seen its tourism dependent economy crushed by the pandemic.
The number of new coronavirus cases has now been zero in over 20 islands for several days now as two have reported all cases have fully recovered from the virus.
Additionally, three Caribbean countries now rank in the top 10 list of nations prepared to lift physical distancing measures amid the COVID-19 pandemic globally according to the first ever response tracker tool created by the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government on the preparedness.
The new tracker records and compares governmental measures in response to the coronavirus pandemic worldwide. The four measures the University used to rank countries globally were control of virus transmission; testing, tracing and isolation policies; management of risk of exporting and importing cases and community engagement.
The three countries ranking high globally from the Caribbean region are Trinidad and Tobago, Belize and Barbados.
Out of the three, only Barbados saw a single new case on Thursday, April 3, 2020 after days of reporting no new cases to bring its total to 81 cases and 7 deaths. But the country reported no new cases since.
Trinidad and Tobago has not seen any new cases in numerous days as well, as its total confirmed cases remains at 116 with 8 deaths, while Belize also has stayed steady at only 18 cases, adding no new ones in several days and reporting only 2 deaths from the virus.
Here are those now reporting no new confirmed cases along with their current status:
Anguilla
Anguilla has now seen all 3 cases from the virus on the island fully recovered. After days of no new infections, the government made the decision to reopen on April 29, 2020, locally.
Caribbean Netherlands – 6 active cases but no deaths and no new cases.
St. Barths
St. Barths had 6 cases, and all have recovered.
British Virgin Islands – 6 cases with 1 death, 3 recovered and two still active cases.
Suriname – 10 cases with 1 death only as 9 have recovered.
Montserrat – 11 active cases with 2 deaths reported and 7 active cases, including 3 critical case.
Turks & Caicos – 12 plus 1 death with 5 recovered and 6 active cases.
Saint Kitts & Nevis – 15 cases with no deaths and 8 recovered and 7 active cases.
Vincent and the Grenadines – 16 cases and no deaths with 8 recovered and 8 active cases.
Dominica – 16 cases with no deaths as 13 recovered and 3 are still active cases.
Curacao – 16 cases plus 1 death, but 13 have recovered and only two are still active cases.
Belize – 18 cases with 2 deaths as 13 have recovered and 3 remain active, including 1 listed as critical. With no new cases in days, the government on May 1st announced relaxed restrictions on movement from over the weekend allowing several businesses to reopen including hotels, wholesalers and retailers, call centers and even lawyers, accountants and real estate brokers. Restaurants will be limited to providing room service and take-out meals. All government departments and all statutory bodies will reopen today, Monday, May 4th.
Grenada – 21 cases with no deaths as 13 have recovered while 7 remain active, including 4 who are listed as critical.
Antigua & Barbuda – 25 plus 3 deaths while 15 patients have recovered but 7 cases remain active, including 1 listed as critical.
Saint Martin – 38 plus 3 deaths while 27 have recovered and 8 remain active cases including 3 listed as critical.
U.S. Virgin Islands has had 66 cases with 4 deaths so farand 51 recovered with no hospitalized patients.Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. last Wednesday announced that non-essential businesses in the territory will be allowed to reopen Monday if all going out in public wear a mask. Recreational facilities, for example, like gyms, tennis courts and golf courses, are allowed to reopen as long as physical distancing of six feet or more is achieved and personal grooming services, like barber shops and hair salons, can reopen as well, but only through appointment and with strict sanitation protocols. Churches are also free to reopen, but no more than 50 people are allowed inside at any given time, and that includes pastors and parishioners.
Cayman Islands – 74 plus one death. Only 10 have recovered as 63 remain active cases including 3 listed as critical.
Sint Maarten – 76 plus 13 deaths while 44 people have recovered. However, there are still 19 active cases including 7 listed as critical.
Bahamas – has 83 cases and 11 deaths while 24 people have recovered. Forty-eight are still listed as active with 1 critical.
Barbados – after days of no new cases, Barbados reported 1 new case last Thursday to take its confirmed case tally to 81. The country still has 7 deaths only as officials said 44 people have recovered from the virus but 30 remain active cases, including 4 listed as critical.
Aruba – 100 plus two deaths with 81 recovered to date, while 17 are listed as active cases with 4 critical.
Trinidad and Tobago – 116 plus 8 deaths as 88 have recovered from the virus. Twenty remain active cases but none considered critical.
NEW CASES
However, in six countries, the cases continue to uptick as the regional totally reached 13,380 confirmed cases as the death toll reached 613.
They include the Dominican Republic, which continues to be the epicenter of the virus in the region, as it added another 376 new cases Sunday to take its total confirmed cases to almost 8,000 at 7,954. The country also passed the 330-death toll, registering 333 deaths yesterday as it saw another 7 deaths. So far, only 1,606 people have recovered from the virus while 6,015 remain active cases including 144 of whom are critical.
Cuba – added another 38 new cases yesterday to reach 1,649 confirmed cases. The country also reported another new death to take its total to 67. So far, 827 people have recovered but 755 remains active cases including 13 listed as critical.
Puerto Rico – continues to see an increase in cases as its confirmed cases reached 1,757 last night and its death toll climbed to 95.
Jamaica – continues to see an increase in the number of coronavirus cases on the island, reporting another 31 new cases Sunday. Of the 396 confirmed cases, the majority are employees of Alorica located in Portmore, St Catherine. Only 8 people have, however, died from the virus but only 33 have so far recovered. The island now has the most cases of any English-speaking Caribbean island with 422 active cases as of last night, including 2 critical.
Bermuda – now has 115 cases as it added a new case Sunday. There are also 7 deaths as there remains 57 active cases including 4 listed as critical. Fifty-one people have so far recovered from the virus.
St. Lucia – added a new case Sunday to reach 18. But it still has no deaths so far and 15 have recovered while only 3 remain active cases.
STILL COPING
While Guyana and Haiti did not see any new cases yesterday, both Guyana have a lot of active cases.
Guyanacontinued to see an uptick last Thursday but as of last night there were no new cases with the case load at 82. Nine deaths have been reported though only 22 people have so far recovered while 51 remain active cases including 2 listed as critical.
Haiti – reported one new death Thursday to take its death tally to 8. The country added now has 85 confirmed cases as only 10 people have so far recovered from the virus as 67 remain active cases but none listed as critical.
Guadeloupe – did not add any new cases Sunday but its added two new cases last Thursday and now has 152 cases. Still its death toll remains at 12 and 95 people have so far recovered. Forty-four, however, remain active cases including 6 critical.
Martinique – now stands at 179 cases and though it did not add any Sunday, it did add 3 new cases last Thursday. Its death toll remains at 14 and so far, 83 people have recovered from the virus but 82 remain active cases including 5 critical cases.
French Guiana – added no new case Sunday but it did last Thursday. It now has 128 confirmed cases but only one death to date. So far 98 people have recovered including but 29 remain active cases including 2 critical.
