Even as vaccinations efforts continue, health officials in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) are scrambling to contain a spiralling outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the Caribbean UK-governed territory.

The islands reached their highest positivity rate yet on Thursday (January 28), with 75 new cases confirmed in the last 24 hours, bringing the national tally to 1,387. This is against 185 tests conducted within the same timeframe.

The TCI caseload has seen a considerable spike since January 1, as Our Today analysis of government data noted 492 new confirmed cases were recorded.

By December 31, 2020, the Turks and Caicos, with 893 confirmed cases, had then conducted 11,754 tests for COVID-19, 10,861 (or roughly 92 per cent) of which returned negative. 

However, less than a month later, as TCI completed 13,582 tests, the negativity rate fell dramatically to 89.7 per cent.

In terms of vaccinations, government officials said that 344 persons have been inoculated since the January 11 roll-out—a long way off TCI’s estimated 38,000 population.

At the time of publication, eight persons are hospitalised due to the coronavirus, while 1,051 patients made a recovery. The UK dependency is managing 327 active cases.

The resulting infection balloon has triggered alarm in the Ministry of Health, prompting curfews and other restrictive measures against mass movement. 

In response, officials have commenced aggressive contact tracing activities across the islands.

The curfew, being re-imposed for an initial period of two weeks on hard-hit Providenciales, is effective Wednesday, January 27 to Wednesday, February 10. Members of the public are being urged to stay indoors between 9:00 pm and 5:00 am daily.

On Grand Turk, the curfew will begin at 8:00 pm and end at 5:00 am daily. Additionally, businesses on Grand Turk must suspend their operations to the public by 7:00 pm nightly. 

Business interests elsewhere in the Turks and Caicos must end operations at 8:00 pm.  

TCI has also reduced the size of customers permitted in a single establishment at any given time to 30 per cent of full occupancy—declaring that signage must be posted outside of bars, restaurants and night clubs.

All social gatherings have been banned for the next two weeks, as no person will be allowed to host or attend events. The public gathering ban includes beaches and beach-related activities.

Boating excursions are allowed but operators must not exceed a six-person cap, not including the crew.

The limit for attendees at funerals, weddings, and places of worship was reduced to 20.