Up to press time, 2295 Covid-19 cases had been confirmed in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU), with St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) having the second highest number of recorded cases.

The country with the most cases is St Lucia with 969 while SVG as at January 27, had 827 cases. Antigua & Barbuda is third with 201 cases, while Grenada is fourth with 148.

Dominica had 113 cases up to press time while St Kitts and Nevis had 37, Anguilla 16 and Montserrat 13.

Recording the most deaths is St Lucia with 13, followed by Antigua with six, then SVG with two. Grenada and Montserrat had one death each up to press time while the other countries in the ECCU had no deaths.

Barbados, one of our closest neighbors has recorded 1443 cases with 11 deaths. Further afield, Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) had 7509 cases on Thursday with 134 deaths as a result of Covid-19, which first turned up in the region in March 2020.

On Monday, Grenada, whose citizens trade extensively with the southern Grenadine islands of SVG, sent out a second coast guard vessel to patrol the sea between Carriacou and Petite Martinique. Additional man power was also placed on the ground on both Carriacou and Petite Martinique, islands belonging to Grenada and whose residents interact with Vincentians who live on Union Island, Petit St Vincent and Mayreau daily.

The additional resources were deployed because of a spike in the number of Covid-19 cases here.

Minister of Health in Grenada Nickolas Steele said that while Carriacou, Petite Martinique and the Southern Grenadine islands interact as one people, SVG is being tried and tested by Covid-19, so additional measures to control the borders and protect people had to be put in place.

“There are individuals who earn an income from the interaction between the islands, and based on all the reports received, there is general compliance with the established protocols, in recognition of the risks that exist. We ask the residents of Carriacou and Petite Martinique to continue to cooperate. To those travelling back and forth, we urge you to understand the need for full compliance,” Minister Steele said.

Barbados and SVG have placed each other on their respective lists of high risk countries while the United States Embassy in Bridgetown has canceled all nonimmigrant visa appointments.

Meanwhile, the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) is calling on all residents of and visitors to SVG of the importance of consistently wearing facial coverings to protect themselves from being infected with the virus which causes Covid-19.