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Saint Lucia has experienced a new surge in COVID-19 cases, causing concern among local health officials. On Friday, May 7, the Ministry of Health and Wellness received confirmation of 47 new cases of COVID-19.
The confirmation came from the Ezra Long Laboratory from a batch of 249 samples it processed the previous day. “This is the highest daily increase in COVID-19 cases noted for the last 12 weeks,” Chief Medical Officer, Dr Sharon Belmar-George observed. And she revealed that 63 percent of the cases are from the Southwestern belt of Saint Lucia.
“The increase in COVID-19 cases noted this week is of concern to the Ministry of Health,” Belmar-George stated. She noted that as a result, the ministry is strengthening the necessary public health systems to manage the situation.
“We are still in a vulnerable position,” Belmar-George explained. She said this is based on the high risk of the introduction of COVID-19.
The CMO also mentioned the variants of concern from the developed countries and neighboring Martinique, as well as transmission in-country due to poor compliance to protocols.
Belmar-George revealed that there were 136 active COVID-19 cases in country, all of whom are doing well. As of Friday, the total number of cases Saint Lucia has diagnosed was 4, 654. In addition, as of May 6, 24,985 people had received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. And 10,836 have received the second dose. “Encourage your family and friends to get immunized so we can all be protected,” the CMO says.
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