Minister of Health and Wellness St Clair Prince announced that St Vincent and the Grenadines has moved to the stage of ‘community transmission’ or ‘community spread’ of COVID-19.
He stated this during a media conference a short while ago.
Prince said: “Based on the new information gained by the clearance of the backlog of samples taken from contacts of known positives, routine screening and testing of persons with flu symptoms, it has been determined that we have moved into a phase of community transmission also referred to as community spread of COVID-19 here in St Vincent and the Grenadines.
The cases as reported in our last release are clustered into families and the small social groups including patrons of gambling sheds and rum shops.”
He said the Health Services Committee in light of the recent uptick in the number of cases has recommended several protocols aimed at the containment of COVID-19.
Medical Officer of Health Dr Roger Duncan addressed the measures to strengthen the enforcement of existing protocols.
He said the public health actions include but are not limited to:
The wearing of masks will be made mandatory in all public transportation vehicles
All public vehicles may only transport a maximum of half their permitted number of passengers ( A 20 seater van will be allowed to transport 10 persons inclusive of the driver and conductor)
No in establishment dining in. Take away service only will be allowed for indoor restaurants
Enforcement of the mass gathering protocol with particular emphasis on bars, gambling sheds and rum shops
Mandatory masks in all public establishments and private establishments to which the public has access
These measures will be in place for four weeks in the first instance
Dr Duncan is calling on the population to take into consideration what has been shared to mitigate the risks of COVID-19.
Source :Loop Caribbean