St Lucia's last remaining COVID patient recovers

The remaining active COVID-19 patient in St Lucia has recovered, the island to a 100% recovery rate again.

According to Chief Medical Officer Dr Sharon Belmar-George, Saint Lucia has recorded a total of 26 confirmed cases of COVID-19 to date. The last case recorded on Tuesday, August 18, 2020 who was a 32-year-old female who traveled from the United States. She has recovered fully both clinically and with negative tests. Presently all of the recorded cases of COVID-19 have recovered and Saint Lucia has recorded zero COVID-19 deaths. A total of 5,542 tests have been conducted to date.

The CMO also provided an update on a patient who was found unresponsive in government quarantine, "As it relates to the 48-year-old national who was found unresponsive in her room at one of the government quarantine sites on Sunday, August 23, 2020, the individual is still being managed at the Owen King EU Hospital and her condition is not linked to COVID-19."

The CMO said, "as we continue to open new sectors such as education, the public is advised to take personal responsibility to protect themselves and their family. We continue to increase surveillance to reduce risks such as illegal entry at borders, breaches to home quarantine, and non-adherence to protocols. The public is advised that all protocols are still in place. These include the use of face masks in public, maintaining safe physical distance from others and avoid mass crowd gatherings."

Dr Belmar-George appealed to everyone to continue supporting the national effort to minimize the threat of COVID-19 in St Lucia.

The five respiratory clinics remain open to facilitate anyone with respiratory signs and symptoms or concerns. The 311 Hotline is also available where concerns and questions can be addressed.

Dr Belmar-George said, "We continue to advise on the importance of maintaining the standard recommendations for infection prevention and control which include:

• regular hand washing with soap and water or alcohol based hand sanitizer where soap and water is not available.
• cover mouth and nose with disposable tissues or clothing when coughing and sneezing."