by Linda Straker
- 1st Covid-19 case in Grenada confirmed on Sunday, 22 March 2020
- Country’s Covid-19 positive cases now at 9
- Relatives of index patient arrived on a flight from New York on 17 March
- Several households are presently under quarantine
Health Minister Nickolas Steele has announced that several homes are presently under mandatory quarantine and the country’s Covid-19 positive cases are now at 9.
“Several entire households are presently under quarantine, and the RGPF has been asked to further tighten their surveillance mechanisms to rigidly ensure that people are observing the rules,” he said in a special broadcast on Saturday evening.
Without explaining what he meant by “tighten” surveillance of the households, the Health Minister said that his ministry remains vigilant and the medical team spearheading the contact tracing exercise is actively engaged.
The team led by Infectious Disease Specialist, Dr Shawn Charles has been working tirelessly on actively following up with contact tracing since the first confirmed case, and even more so after the next 6 cases were confirmed 2 days ago.
“Health officials have already moved to isolate and monitor several others who were in close contact with any of the cases. This will continue for the next 14 days, at least,” said the minister.
Sharing details on the new cases, Steele said that one is a 72-year-old female, who started experiencing symptoms on 20 March and was tested on 25 March. Since the onset of her symptoms, she has been under the care of a doctor.
Labelling her as imported-related, he said that healthcare officials are aggressively investigating to determine the exact point of contact, as well as potential mass exposure, because relatives of the 72-year-old arrived on a flight from New York on 17 March.
“Healthcare officials do not yet know the exact point of contact for this particular case, but are operating under the assumption that all of the foregoing are real possibilities,” Steele said. He promised to provide the public with more information once it becomes available.
Grenada publicly confirmed its first Covid-19 case on Sunday, 22 March 2020. She is a 50-year-old who arrived on a Virgin Atlantic flight from the United Kingdom on 16 March.
The second case is a 50-year-old male who was on the same flight from the United Kingdom on 16 March, sitting within a 6-foot radius of the first confirmed case. This is the 3rd person to test positive from that flight. The other cases are relatives of the index patient. Steele said that Grenada’s positive Covid-19 cases are all exhibiting mild to moderate symptoms.
All confirmed cases are reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO).
Hi Linda (anybody) – excuse my ignorance… I quote from the above article, “Grenada publicly confirmed its first Covid-19 case on Sunday, 22 March 2020. She is a 50-year-old who arrived on a Virgin Atlantic flight from the United Kingdom on 16 March.
The second case is a 50-year-old male who was on the same flight from the United Kingdom on 16 March, sitting within a 6-foot radius of the first confirmed case. This is the 3rd person to test positive from that flight.”
There is only discussions/information about 2. Where do you offer information about the 3rd person to test positive from that flight?”