Government fears COVID-19 outbreak at shelters in St Vincent

After the La Soufriere volcano's eruption last Friday, 20,000 people were evacuated from red and orange zones; a large number of these evacuees were accommodated in shelters at Vincent.

Authorities have shown concerns about the possible outbreak of COVID-19 at the shelters where evacuees are residing.

National Emergency Management Organisation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (NEMO SVG) stated that the country is now concerned about the possible outbreak of Covid-19 in evacuation.

NEMO stated that 88 shelters with 4,161 occupants are now activated across the island, while 3718 have been housed in private sectors. A total of 1,459 families have been displaced so far.

Although vaccination centres have been set up to immunize the evacuees sent to neighbouring islands as vaccination have been made mandatory by Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves.

NEMO also stated that the Seismic activity at La Soufrière had changed its pattern. The last of a group of tremor bands stopped at about 5:40 am and, unlike all the earlier bands, had no clear venting or volcanic activity connected with it.

Since that time, the seismic network has reported a near-continuous swarm of long-period and hybrid shocks, with three short chapters of low-level shaking, each lasting less than 30 minutes.

The constant GPS network gives a signal consistent with the magma reservoir's depressurization, following explosive activity initiation on 9th April 2021.

The GPS stations at Belmont (SVGB) and Georgetown (SVGG), the only two remaining in the network, continue to trend NE and NW.

The volcano continues to erupt; however, the explosive activity appears to have ended at this time, stated NEMO. Its current seismic activity pattern indicates a growth of a lava dome, but this has not yet been authenticated.

Explosions and accompanying ashfall of similar or larger magnitude could restart in the future. NEMO SVG has reported that Seismic activity at La Soufrière remains RED.