St Vincent and the Grenadines on Thursday confirmed 103 new  COVID-19 cases from samples collected between January 21 and February 3, a release from the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) said.  

This record number of new cases were detected during contact tracing, routine screening and  testing of persons with flu symptoms. Many of the cases are clustered in families  and small social groups including patrons of gambling sheds and rum shops. There are now 1021 local cases of COVID-19.  

Thirty-nine persons have been cleared bringing the number of total recoveries  to 377. Seven hundred and ninety cases  remain active and three  persons with COVID-19 have died. One thousand, one  hundred and seventy cases of COVID-19 have been reported in St. Vincent  and the Grenadines since March 2020.

All positive cases will remain isolated until  cleared. All close contacts of positive cases currently in quarantine, should contact  the flu clinic in their district to arrange testing for clearance.  

All residents of and visitors to St. Vincent and the Grenadines are reminded of the  importance of consistently wearing facial coverings, practicing physical distancing  and frequent hand washing, or sanitization, to reduce the likelihood of being infected  with the virus which causes COVID-19.