~MP Bijlani hospitalized.~
PHILIPSBURG:--- St. Maarten has registered 66 positive COVID-19 cases in its second wave confirmed Minister of VSA Richard Panneflek. The Minister said that the visitors that arrived on St. Maarten on Saturday, August 1st were all tested negative. The Minister explained that while visitors to the island are required to take a PCR test at least 72 hours before arriving on the island some 30 persons had to be tested on Saturday when they landed at the Princess Juliana International Airport. He said it was either because those persons did not do the correct test in their homeland thus they were retested and all of them tested negative.
While the numbers of COVID-19 cases are running high the Ministry has said that this is because more tests are being conducted on a daily basis, the Ministry is urging persons to take the necessary precautions such as wearing a mask in public places, sanitizing one's hands as often as possible while maintaining the 2 meters apart.
In the meantime, Member of Parliament Sidhardt Cookie Bijlani announced on his Facebook that he was admitted to the St. Maarten Medical Center on August 2nd as his symptoms worsened. Bijlani said he was feeling much better by Sunday afternoon after receiving treatment.
COVID-19 now risen to 66 cases.
As of August 2nd, at 4:00 PM, the ministry of VSA was informed by Dr. Raïssa Tjon-Kon-Fat, that we currently have 66 active cases on Sint Maarten. The new total of confirmed cases now stands at 146.
Minister Panneflek expresses his deepest sympathy to the bereaved family and friends of the patient who has unfortunately succumbed to COVID-19. The total number of deaths due to COVID-19 is currently 16.
Of the active cases, the Collective Prevention Services (CPS) are monitoring 65 people in home isolation. The Minister of Public Health Social Development and Labour (VSA) the honorable Richard Panneflek announced that “we now have sixty-six (66), active cases of persons who have contracted COVID-19.”
The number of people recovered since the first case surfaced on St. Maarten earlier this year remains at 64. One Hundred and sixty- seven (167) people are now in quarantine based on contact tracing investigations carried out by CPS on persons who may have been in contact with any of the 66 active cases.
In a continued effort to control, the spread of the virus CPS has now tested 151 people at the Princess Juliana International Airport, (PJIA) and 759 people throughout the community. As the numbers continue to increase for positive cases, CPS will continue to actively execute its contact tracing measures.
Please continue to practice all sanitary measures set for the general public by wearing face masks, practicing social distancing, sanitizing your hands as frequent as possible, and washing your hands with soap. Let us continue to work collectively together to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
