Minister for Health and Social Development Honourable Carvin Malone reported five new positive cases of COVID-19, bringing the total active cases to 17 in the British Virgin Islands.

The Territory now has recorded a total of 26 cases, 8 recoveries, one death and 2,195 persons tested in the local laboratory of the Dr. D. Orlando Smith Hospital.

In announcement on August 24, Health Minister Honourable Malone stated that Case #22 was detected while obtaining treatment at the Emergency Room of the Dr. D Orlando Smith Hospital and contact tracing teams have been working to identify and quarantine primary and secondary contacts connected to this patient.

“Out of these investigations three primary contacts of Case #22 tested positive, along with one primary contact of Case #12, which together comprise the five new cases detected,” said Minister Malone.

A total of 46 contacts of recent cases have been tested during the past week and as such, the Territory has been classified as having ‘clusters of cases’ in accordance with the World Health Organization (WHO) transmission classification guidelines.

Honourable Malone highlighted the National Action Plan for COVID-19 pandemic saying, “We remain at Phase 3 of our National Action Plan against the COVID-19 Pandemic which is dubbed the ‘Stamp it Out’ phase.  The main objective is to rapidly contain spread and prevent transmission within the community, especially to vulnerable groups.”

The Health Minister made an appeal to older adults, people with underlying health conditions and persons that care for them to make special effort to consistently practice prevention measures such as handwashing and sanitisation.

The public is advised of community screening exercises that will take place in Anegada, Virgin Gorda, Sea Cows Bay and East End/Long Look. More details will become available in the coming days.

Persons who are experiencing symptoms related to COVID-19 are encouraged to contact the Medical Hotline at 852-7650 to schedule an appointment for testing. Common symptoms include fever, cough, headache, fatigue, loss of taste or smell, sore throat, muscle aches, or difficulty breathing.