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COVID 19
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Health authorities in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), on Thursday, issued a special COVID-19 warning for residents in the extreme north and south of the archipelago.

The warning was to avoid interaction with persons from neighbouring countries who might not have been screened for the viral illness, which has killed over 1.5 million persons and sickened 6.5 million internationally.

National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO) said that SVG is classified as low risk for the transmission of COVID-19.

“However, some of our close neighbours such as Trinidad, St. Lucia and Martinique are classified as high risk and travellers from these countries have a higher risk of being infected with the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

“All residents in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, especially those in the Southern Grenadines, North Windward and North Leeward communities of St. Vincent and the Grenadines such as Union Island, Fancy and Chateaubelair, must be especially careful and avoid any contact with persons traveling from these countries who have not been screened by our port health teams,” NEMO said.

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NEMO further said that persons who are aware of unscreened travellers from these countries or who have themselves been in contact with such persons or who travelled to these high-risk neighbouring countries should alert their district health team.

“The public is reminded that most persons with COVID-19 do not have any symptoms, but can still infect persons they come into contact with,” NEMO said.

The warning came as NEMO also announced that the country had registered two more cases of COVID-19, one from the United States and one from England.

The case from England was a Vincentian adult who returned home with a negative RT-PCR test result on Saturday Nov. 28 and tested negative on entry screening but tested positive on day five of quarantine.

The second case is a US national who arrived from the United States also on Nov. 28.

The traveller, an adult, also arrived with a negative RT-PCR result, tested negative on entry screening, then positive on quarantine day five testing.

“Both adults were in mandatory quarantine and will be isolated until cleared by two negative tests. Contact tracing and testing have commenced,” NEMO said.

SVG has now recorded 87 COVID-19 cases, 80 of which have recovered. There are now seven active COVID-19 cases, all imported from countries categorized as high risk.