St Lucia records another COVID-19 death and 39 new cases

Castries, St Lucia: The Caribbean island of St Lucia has recorded another coronavirus-related death on Wednesday, bringing the total death toll to 47. While the ministry of health also announced more than 39 new coronavirus cases. As per the health-officials, the deceased is a 75-year-old male from the Castries health district suffering from comorbidities. The person was already under medical assistance before losing his life to the contagious disease.

The recent positive cases results arrived from the Ezra Long Laboratory. The positive cases arrived from testing 186 individuals on March 9, 2021, out of which 39 tested positive.

Health officials reported that these individuals were first reported at a local respiratory clinic following flu-like symptoms.

St Lucia has also started its vaccination drive against the contagious disease. While the country has successfully immunized its front-line workers, it is still a long way for it to vaccinate the general public.

So far, the country has recorded 3,941 total coronavirus cases and 47 virus-related deaths, which is a massive number considering the country's small population.

Tiffeny Josephs, a social-worker based in St Lucia, had revealed to WIC NEWS that the country is undergoing severe social and mental health crises caused by the coronavirus pandemic. She said that employers are kicking out staff members who test positive for the virus, and they are not taken back even when they test negative for the disease.

Besides this, she had disclosed that the local-respiratory health clinics are paying minimum attention towards sanitation and stated that all positive COVID-19 patients are sitting at similar places where the general public crosses by.

She referred to the health clinic's structure as something similar to a "party tent" and stated that respiratory hygiene is not followed at these clinics. She also stated that there are only four hospital beds in St Lucia, and their structure is like church benches.