No Evidence of Community Spread of Covid-19 in SVG – NEMO

There is no evidence of community transmission relative to COVID-19, in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).

This is according to a release from the National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO) dated today, April 21.

This release follows closely behind another which announced the 13th confirmed case of the virus in SVG.

That release did not specify whether the new case was imported.

“Since then, speculation has been rife, about the origin of this latest case. According to the chief medical officer (CMO), Dr Simone Keizer [Beache], ongoing preliminary investigations into the new case point to a possible local transmission, since the individual in question has no known travel history,” the release said.

Keizer-Beache, in the release, distinguished between local and community spread, noting that according to CARPHA, community spread refers to instances where several people in a community test positive for COVID-19 without any known contact with an imported case, while “local spread” or “secondary case” describes a situation where the person was never abroad, but was exposed to an imported case, so that the source of the infection can be identified.

According to the release, the CMO said that the Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment is cognizant of the need to keep the public aware of every development in respect of COVID-19 in SVG. And she is assuring the public that the ministry, which is the official source of information relative for COVID 19, “remains committed to providing, timely, accurate and relevant information, as we continue to manage this public health challenge together”.