With 57 cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) confirmed in the last 24 hours, St Vincent and the Grenadines becomes the fourth Caribbean nation to hit the 1,000-caseload mark since the start of 2021.  

Continuing to record daily double-figure confirmations since Monday (February 1), the St Vincent national COVID-19 tally further jumped to 1,008 on Tuesday.   

The Vincentian situation is likely to worsen before it begins to improve and comes as the Ministry of Health is yet to declare community spread of COVID-19 despite the clear signs. 

To date, health officials have completed 29,641 tests for the coronavirus, of which 28,633, or roughly 96.6 per cent have been confirmed negative. 

While 262 patients have made a full recovery from COVID-19, St Vincent is managing 744 active cases. There are 463 cases labelled “under investigation”, however, by the ministry’s own account, nearly all of those so infected had no recent history of travel. 

The rate of testing also pales in comparison to the positivity rate as, with only 205 tests conducted in the last 48 hours, 107 confirmed cases in that time frame suggests the virus’ prevalence is much higher than previously thought. 

The Ralph Gonsalves-led administration continues to poorly handle the COVID-19 in St Vincent, which had one of the lowest caseloads across the entire Caribbean. The relatively small number of cases then, and the resulting COVID explosion in St Vincent now, like many of its neighbours, can be linked to: an initial fear and border shutdown, and the crushing reality of economic fallout due the Caribbean’s heavy dependency on tourism as an income generator. 

In a Tuesday, February 2 statement, the National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO) indicated that all positive Vincentian cases will remain isolated until cleared.  

“There are now 859 local cases of COVID-19, many of whom are linked as contacts of known positives. All close contacts of positive cases currently in quarantine should contact the flu clinic in their district to arrange testing for clearance,” NEMO noted.