St. Lucia Reports 100% Recovery from COVID-19

St. Lucia Reports 100% Recovery from COVID-19

CASTRIES, St Lucia, Thursday April 23, 2020 – All 15 of the people who tested positive for COVID-19 in St Lucia have now recovered.

The Ministry of Health said yesterday that the last two people who were in isolation recorded negative test results and were discharged from hospital.

“Among the 15 cases Saint Lucia recorded were individuals who fell within the category of high risk by virtue of some being elderly as well as living with chronic illness. They too recovered well with no complications or needed critical care,” it said in a statement.

However, it added: “We all need to be reminded that the threat of COVID-19 still exists and will continue to be with us for a while.”

The Ministry added that the testing strategy has been modified, and an increased number of samples from community respiratory clinics were being tested to assig in the assessment of COVID-19 locally.

Meantime, the island remains on a partial shutdown, with a 10-hour curfew that begins at 7 p.m. daily and ends at 5 a.m. the following day.

“We remain at a very critical position in the implementation of the national response to the COVID-19 threat. Large scale public health and social measures have been implemented in an effort to break transmission of COVID-19 when in-country transmission was noted. The public must note that many of these measures need to be sustained in an effort to achieve low COVID-19 levels in-country,” the Ministry said.

“As seen in many of the more developed countries, even with an apparent decrease in the number of cases and the flattening of the curve, there have been periods of resurgence in their cases. When measures are relaxed and persons become more socially engaged, this provides an opportunity for smaller epidemic waves which are characterized by low level transmission.”

It added that a risk assessment must be conducted to arrive at an evidence-based approach to relaxing measures, while ensuring the capacity to detect and manage a possible resurgence in cases moving forward.

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