St. Maarten: COVID-19 cases continue to rise

Eleven persons have tested positive for COVID-19, increasing the total number of active cases to ninety as of Sunday, September 27.

After a noted decrease in the number of active cases last week, the num­bers are now slowly start­ing to increase once again. Seventeen new cases of COVID-19 were recorded over the weekend. The total number of confirmed cases is now 644.

Of the active cases, the Collective Prevention Ser­vices (CPS) is monitoring 86 persons who are currently in home isolation. There are currently 135 persons in quarantine based on contact-tracing investigations carried out by CPS of persons who may have been in contact with any of the active cases. Three patients are hospital­ised at St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) and one patient is isolated and be­ing monitored. The number of people recovered since the first case surfaced in St. Maarten remains at 532.

CPS has tested 1,029 travel­lers arriving at Princess Juli­ana International Airport, (PJIA) and 1,985 persons within the community. CPS assured that as the numbers continue to fluctuate, the department will continue to actively execute its contact-tracing measures.

Despite the increase in pos­itive cases, Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labour VSA Richard Panneflek reminded the public, “We must wear our masks, practise social dis­tancing, sanitise your hands frequently, wash your hands with soap, and refrain from mass gatherings in order to flatten the curve.”

The Daily Herald.