Reading Time: 4 minutes

Nearly nine months since the Alpha variant began its assault on the Caribbean, countries and territories are no closer to an end to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, despite making steady gains. 

Owing to the impact of vaccine availability and strict gathering measures, new COVID-19 infections and hospitalisation continue to trend downward across the region, however, with the region collectively marking its 63rd-straight week of maintaining mostly closed cases.

Over the last seven days, new infections (19,935) marginally outnumbered closed cases (19,400).

Our Today analysis of regional data finds 26 of the 32 affected countries and territories have reported new cases within the last 48 hours. 

Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago rank as the five worst-hit territories in the region this week. 

Additionally, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and Cayman Islands remain under a worrying spike in cases coinciding with the Delta variant’s introduction in local populations.

As at 3:55 pm Greenwich Meridian Time (GMT) on Thursday, November 18, collated data from respective health departments across the region has indicated a combined total of 2,135,881 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Of that number, some 1,738,346 cases, or roughly 81.38 per cent, have officially been declared closed. There are an estimated 397,532 active cases regionally.

The statistics were largely the result of patients across the Caribbean reporting a full recovery from the infectious disease (1,709,866 recoveries to date, barring insufficient data from Puerto Rico, French Guiana, Guadeloupe and Martinique).

In the meantime, the total number of patients who succumbed to coronavirus-related complications spiked to 28,480.

See Our Today’s latest situational analysis on COVID-19 in the Caribbean below:

Confirmed cases to date: 2,135,881
Deaths: 28,480
Recoveries: 1,709,866*
Active cases: 397,532*

*—Data from Health Departments and Agencies across the Caribbean. (Full or partial recovery statistics have not been forthcoming from Puerto Rico, Guadeloupe, St Martin, French Guiana, Saint-Barthélemy and Martinique)

Cuba: 316 new cases; 959,869 confirmed. 8,289 patients have died. (950,105 recoveries)

Dominican Republic: 893 new cases; 399,773 confirmed. 4,182 patients have died. (390,544 patients have recovered)

Puerto Rico: 152 new cases; 187,205 confirmed. 3,259 patients have died. (*No information available on recoveries)

Jamaica: 97 new cases; 90,467 confirmed. 2,343 patients have died. (61,313 recoveries)

Trinidad and Tobago: 781 new cases; 63,865 confirmed. 1,891 patients have died. (54,285 recoveries)

Guadeloupe: No reported new cases; 54,920 confirmed. 742 patients have died. (2,250 recoveries)

Suriname: 60 new cases; 50,302 confirmed. 1,140 patients have died. (29,537 recoveries)

French Guiana: 35 new cases; 45,583 confirmed. 322 patients have died. (9,995 recoveries)

Martinique: 111 new cases; 44,429 confirmed. 703 patients have died. (124 recoveries)

Guyana: 83 new cases; 36,999 confirmed. 965 patients have died. (33,970 recoveries)

Belize: 117 new cases; 29,386 confirmed. 556 patients have died. (27,104 recoveries)

Haiti: 75 new cases; 24,710 confirmed. 711 patients have died. (20,734 recoveries)

Barbados: 284 new cases; 22,923 confirmed. 204 patients have died. (14,001 recoveries)

The Bahamas: 11 new cases; 22,640 confirmed. 671 patients have died. (21,556 recoveries)

Curaçao: 13 new cases;  17,259 confirmed. 175 patients have died. (16,980 recoveries)

Aruba: 20 new cases; 16,133 confirmed. 173 patients have died. (15,810 recoveries)

St Lucia: Eight new cases; 12,859 confirmed. 272 patients have died. (12,395 recoveries)

US Virgin Islands: 17 new cases; 7,397 confirmed. 84 patients have died. (7,234 recoveries)

Grenada: No new cases; 5,865 confirmed. 200 patients have died. (5,609 recoveries)

Bermuda: One new case; 5,714 confirmed. 106 patients have died. (5,570 recoveries)

Dominica: 43 new cases; 5,484 confirmed. 35 patients have died. (5,084 recoveries)

St Vincent and the Grenadines: Nine new cases; 5,368 confirmed. 73 patients have died. (4,303 recoveries)

Cayman Islands: 239 new cases; 5,156 confirmed. Four patients have died. (1,609 recoveries)

Sint Maarten: Two new cases; 4,548 confirmed. 75 patients have died. (4,436 recoveries)

Antigua and Barbuda: No new cases; 4,129 confirmed. 108 patients have died. (3,961 recoveries)

St Martin: 19 new cases; 3,949 confirmed. 56 patients have died. (1,399 recoveries)

Turks & Caicos Islands: 15 new cases; 3,060 confirmed. 23 patients have died. (2,976 recoveries)

British Virgin Islands: No new cases; 2,765 confirmed. 38 patients have died. (2,706 recoveries)

St Kitts and Nevis: Four new cases; 2,760 confirmed. 28 patients have died. (2,680 recoveries)

Saint-Barthélemy: Two new cases; 1,595 confirmed. Six patients have died. (462 recoveries)

Anguilla: 38 new cases; 1,175 confirmed. Three patients have died. (1,094 recoveries)

Montserrat: Three new cases; 44 confirmed. One patient has died. (40 recoveries) active cases.

NB: There are no countries without active cases at this time