SABA--Saba has recorded its first confirmed case of coronavirus COVID-19, said Island Governor Jonathan Johnson in an address on Saturday evening. In response, the island will go on a two-week mandatory lock-down as of 12:00am Sunday, April 12.
“Over the past weeks we have been working together with the aim of preventing COVID-19 from being introduced to the island. Despite all of the precautionary measures taken, this evening I have to inform you, that one of the three tests taken has returned as positive,” said Johnson.
The positive test is not the patient who was medically evacuated to St. Maarten on Friday with a severe case of pneumonia, said Johnson. “[The positive case – Ed.] was one of the other two taken from persons on island … The patient who is positive is experiencing mild symptoms and is doing well. We are still waiting for the second test to return for the patient in St. Maarten and for the results of the third person tested,” he said.
According to Johnson, the positive case is considered to be of local transmission, as this person has no travel history within the past several weeks. This indicates that the virus has already been introduced to the island and it is possible that more cases could follow.
“We have had many measures in place since March 16, with the intention that if something like this did occur, that the spread would be limited. But because of this new development, further measures will be implemented which will help contain the spread of the virus,” said Johnson.
He announced that as of 12:00am Sunday, Saba will go on a mandatory two-week lock-down. “This new measure is being taken to ensure your safety and the health of our community. We know that this may be inconvenient, but it is necessary that we take these measures to ensure that we contain the spread of this virus,” said Johnson.
