STATEMENT GIVEN BY THE MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

HONOURABLE CARVIN MALONE

ON WEDNESDAY, 7^TH OCTOBER, 2020

COVID-19 UPDATE – ALL 70 CASES RECOVERED; new curfew order

Greetings to everyone.  I am pleased to bring you another status report on the Territory’s COVID-19 situation and response. 

I begin with a summary of the case numbers and their distribution.

As previously reported a total of 71 persons have tested positive for COVID-19 after testing 5,193 individuals in the British Virgin Islands.  As of the 6^th of October, 37% of our positive cases reported no symptoms, with an almost equal male to female ratio. A total of five patients were hospitalized up to yesterday, two of whom were reported as being in critical condition and one person has succumbed to the disease.

A cluster of 53 cases (representing 75% of all detected cases) were discovered between the 14^th of August and the 8^th of September.

Today I am happy to report that the final case that was detected during that period has now recovered.

The total number of recoveries recorded now stands at 70 with no active cases and one death.

I once again acknowledge the hard work that has resulted in the containment of this recent outbreak. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of our public health and community health teams. 

I also thank the entire community for your continued compliance and cooperation with the various movement restrictions and public health measures that have been put in place for our protection.

Let me be candid! The fact that we have no positive cases on record today does not mean that the BVI is ‘COVID-19 Free’. 

Surveillance, screening and testing services are conducted on a daily basis in an effort to detect and isolate any imported or locally acquired infections, provide treatment to patients, and trace and isolate contacts. These actions are taken to minimize the risk of transmission in our community.  Forty-three members of the Social Distancing Task Force have been trained and legally empowered and are currently undertaking inspections to ensure that businesses and individuals comply with the measures enacted.

The work of the Social Distancing Task Force will continue for the unforeseeable future, and I encourage everyone to keep taking precautions and adhering to suppression measures that would safeguard yourselves and your loved ones against this deadly virus.

I turn now to another topic of keen interest to the community as we work to safely lift restrictions and expand the internal reopening process in preparation for our wider opening on December 1^st.

At a meeting held earlier today:

1. Cabinet advised  the  National  Security  Council  to  instruct  the  Attorney  General  to draft a new Curfew Order to  impose  a  new curfew  from 12:00 a.m. midnight  to  5:00 a.m. daily for  a  period  of  fourteen  (14)  days  from  8^th October,  2020 until  22^nd October,  2020. This new Curfew will be subject to the requirements in Suppression Order (No. 8) Statutory Instrument. No.112;

2. Cabinet decided to  allow  all  business  to  re-open,  inclusive  of  bars  and  nightclubs, provided  that  those  businesses  pass  inspection  by  the  Social Distancing    Monitoring    Protocols and are certified by the Environmental Health Division in order to operate their businesses; Bars and nightclubs owners are currently in conversations with the Department and a date and time for inspections would be agreed.

3. Cabinet decided to continue the restriction of the movement of vessels in Territorial waters as provided in Curfew Order (No. 33), S.I. No.104, inclusive of  the  requirement  that  persons  must  be  off  waters  from  6:00  p.m.  The  exclusion  zone  at the  border  area  remains  in  place  and commercial  ferries  are  allowed  to  operate  up  until  curfew  time;

4. Cabinet decided to permit credentialed Cruise Liners to make technical calls or  warm  lay  ups  to  the  Territory,  subject  to  compliance  with  the protocols  established  by  the  BVI  Ports  Authority  and  endorsed  by the Health Emergency Operations Centre; and

5. Cabinet decided to allow freight couriers  and  charter  companies  traveling  between the  BVI  and  USVI  to  operate,  subject  to  strict  adherence  to  the established  COVID-19  suppression measures and bi-weekly COVID-19 anaysis.

As we continue on our mission to safely reopen our society, open our economy and open our borders in this COVID-19 environment I am also pleased, as previously mentioned, to report that all 43 members of the Social Distancing Monitoring Task Force operating within the Environmental Health Division have now been trained, equipped, commissioned and deployed to perform the very important duties of educating, monitoring and enforcement of the public health measures alongside the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force. 

Simple but; effective protective measures such as physical distancing, hand washing, sanitisation, and wearing of face coverings while in public places apply to individuals, businesses and other establishments, and there are legal penalties in place to promote full compliance.

As I close, let me once again emphasise the need to take personal responsibility and hold each other accountable for our collective safety and protection.

I also remind you to contact the Medical Hotline at 852-7650 to be assessed by a health professional if you experience any symptoms related to COVID-19. Common symptoms include – fever, cough, headache, fatigue, loss of taste or smell, sore throat, muscle aches, or difficulty breathing.

For more information on the Territory’s COVID-19 response please visit the website www.bvi.gov.vg/Covid-19.

Cabinet will again meet on Friday to finalize the protocols for further reopening in a safe and sustainable manner.

In closing I will again reiterate that: Of the 71 positive cases previously reported – with the exception of the one death ALL 70 cases have now been reported as FULLY recovered.

Thank you for your attention and your full cooperation.

May GOD continue to Bless these beautiful Virgin Islands

Thank you for listening.