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Dominica’s Minister for Health, Wellness and New Health Investment has said that his ministry will, this week, beginning discharging quarantined individuals who are free of the COVID-19 virus.
In the same speech, delivered during the 2nd Meeting of the 1st Session of the 10th Parliament on Monday, Dr. Irving McIntyre revealed that the number of positive cases in Dominica had risen to 15.
He said the 15th case is a second-generation contact of index case number 3 who came from Concord in the Marigot area.
“So far, we have identified three index cases. Index case one gave us nine contacts. So, index case one and the nine contacts would be ten cases,” McIntyre stated. “Index case two, we tested all the contacts. They were all negative. Index case three, we got two of the contacts positive and one of the contacts of that contact which is the first second-generation contact, positive. So that means we have a 10 plus I, that’s 11 plus the third one, that’s 12, 2 contacts of number 3, that’s 14 and the one second-generation contact. So that’s 15 cases.”
The health minister indicated that at present, there is a total of 109 people in quarantine at the facilities in the north of the island.
The Health Ministry revealed in an update on Thursday evening that another positive COVID19 case has come to light bringing the number of cases to 16 in Dominica.
Five, however, have recovered from the illness and have been discharged as of Thursday with the Hon Health Minister, Dr Irving McIntyre revealing that four more are awaiting their second negative test result anticpated today.
World Health Organisation protocols dictate that a patient must have two negative test results at least 24 hours apart to be considered recovered.
This means that while Dominica records 16 cases, only 11 are active cases.
Fellow citizens and residents, social distancing does not mean spiritual distancing. On the contrary, now is the time for us to draw on our faith and practice spiritual closeness.
Not surprisingly, the most trending verse on the Bible app, YouVersion is Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV) which exhorts:
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. [SUP]7 [/SUP]And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”
An Imperative for Forward Thinking and Planning
Our health systems, already suffering from pre-existing conditions such as weak primary health care, limited secondary care infrastructure and funding and limited personnel, are now being tested severely. A rethink of our health care provision is urgent and must draw on critical lessons and resources from Cuba, such as its primary health care system and its abundant pool of trained doctors and nurses. We are grateful to Cuba for the critical support now being rendered to our member countries.
Once again, the issue of food security has come into sharp focus. Recall 2008 when food and fuel prices peaked and the regional conversation on food security that ensued. Going forward, as part of building resilience, we must ensure our focus for enhancing our capacity to feed ourselves does not shift when this crisis recedes. It has happened before. It must not happen again.
Even as we increasingly use electronic and digital channels to make payments; work from home (telecommute); and ramp up online delivery of education to our children and students, it is pellucidly clear that our work on building out a digital economy, with accompanying cyberresilience, ought to be accelerated in the post-crisis period.
And for Tourism, our lifeblood, important plans must be laid now in preparation for the economic “snapback”.
If you are bored at home, now would be a good time to set some short-term goals such as lose some weight, read a book or complete an online course.
Know Your Source
In finance and banking, we use the term KYC, which means Know Your Customer. In this era of social media and, regrettably, fake news, knowing your source by checking the source of your information is essential. Please remember not everyone who possesses a smartphone is smart and not everything you receive on social media is true.
Rely only on credible sources such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), the ECCB and of course, your health and government officials.
Kudos to our Frontline Warriors
We applaud all the essential workers who are on the frontline of this global war including our doctors, nurses and allied healthcare professionals, public utilities, media, security forces and all other essential workers.
We can help them to help us by adhering to the protocols such as boosting our immune systems, proper hand hygiene, physical distancing and staying at home.
We also recognise our farmers, fisher folk and food distribution personnel.
Conclusion
We urge everyone to fully consider the opportunities now presented to our region by this pandemic.
The current challenges necessitate that our Central Bank adopt proactive and accommodative policies in the fulfilment of its mandates. To those ends, the ECCB stands shoulder to shoulder with Member Governments, commercial banks and regional and international partners to help mitigate the health and socio-economic impact of this pandemic on the ECCU.
We are in a difficult season but we are resilient.
Let us neither doubt our collective strength nor our faith in our God.
Remember we are all in this fight together.
Together, with the help of Almighty God, we shall overcome.
I thank you
...snipThe Region is to be applauded for its swift and coordinated responses to COVID-19, putting in place the health, education, social, economic and security protocols needed to reduce the impact on the social sustainability and economic resilience of the region.
Another COVID-19 patient in Dominica has recovered, bringing to 9, the total number of people afflicted with the virus who have tested negative and have been discharged from the COVID facility in Portsmouth.
National Epidemiologist, Dr. Shallauddin Ahmed, said at a news briefing on Tuesday, that the total number of confirmed cases remains at sixteen (16) with 7 active cases.
Dominica marks twenty-one days since its last confirmed case of COVID-19. The announcement was made by National Epidemiologist Dr. Shalaudin Ahmed at a Ministry of Health, Wellness and New Health Investment press briefing on April 28, 2020.
La Plaine and Marigot will be the first targets of a community based COVID-19 survey, to be undertaken by the Ministry of Health.
This assessment will begin on May 5[SUP]th[/SUP] 2020 and will last for a period of one month.
Its objectives will include the detection of asymptomatic carriers and to determine the extent of the infection in the general population.
National Epidemiologist, Dr. Shallauddin Ahmed, recently reported that 75% of the total number of confirmed cases in Dominica, were asymptomatic.
“This survey will be conducted on the randomly selected proportion of households from all seven health districts. The survey will be initiated in the high-risk areas, first namely the La Plaine and Marigot health districts,” he stated at a COVID-19 press briefing on Tuesday.
Ahmed noted that by May 5[SUP]th[/SUP], two full incubation cycles would have already passed since the detection of the last confirmed case on the island and by such time, health officials will be able to check antibody levels to this virus as it will be fully developed
Cases remain at 16 with zero deaths and 14 people have made a full recovery.
Health Minister, Dr. Irving McIntyre, has confirmed the death of a member of the “Henry Reeve” Cuban Medical Brigade which arrived in Dominica on March 29, 2020, to help in the fight against the COVID-19 disease.
Dr. McIntyre announced, on Wednesday evening, at a COVID-19 press briefing, that the 42-year-old male collapsed and died last night.