Below is a statement from Health Minister Dr. Irving McIntyre in response to the sudden spike in active COVID cases in Dominica centering around the community of Grandfond.
On July 6, 2021, six (6) travelers arrived in Dominica from the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and were quarantined at a Safe in Nature COVID Certified property. At the end of the quarantine period, two travelers (2) tested positive and were admitted to the St James Isolation Unit. The other four travelers who tested negative were re-tested on Day 5, three (3) of whom turned out positive also admitted to the St James Isolation Unit.
Given that all the positive cases were from the Grandfond Community, over the last few days the Ministry of Health has been on the ground in Grand Fond. Swabbing and testing of primary and secondary contacts as well as random testing of residents of the community has been ongoing over the past three days. Additionally, all other persons who were identified as primary and secondary contacts who do not reside in the community have also been tested and quarantined.
On Friday, July 16, thirty two (32) primary contacts were transferred to the Government Quarantine Facility in Portsmouth. Out of these primary contacts, only Two (2) returned positive results. These two individuals were admitted to the St James Isolation Unit and the primary contacts of these two new cases were all identified and swabbed for PCR testing.
Out of an abundance of caution, all primary contacts will remain in quarantine and be re-tested on Day 5.
To date, Seventy One (71) PCR tests and One hundred and Seventy (174) Rapid Antigen Tests have been carried out for primary and secondary contacts from July 16th to today July 18th. Of the 174 Rapid Antigen Tests, only one (1) returned a positive result. The individual was immediately swabbed for PCR testing and placed in Government Quarantine. All contacts for this individual have been identified and contacted.
So as of today total number of active cases stands at twelve (12).
As a precautionary measure, we have decided to take the following measures to minimize the risk of spread in Grand Fond and the wider community:
With immediate effect for the next seven (7) days, we are initiating the following actions for the community of Grand Fond:
- Limited access in and out of Grand Fond to essential travel only such as medical emergencies, delivery of goods, and maintenance of public utilities. Individuals are encouraged to remain within the community and avoid any form of public gathering.
- With respect to Public Gathering, all church services, sporting activities all other social activities are suspended in the community.
- All Bars should be closed and the sale of alcohol will be suspended.
- Grocery Shops may remain open with strict adherence to health protocols and will close from 6:00pm daily
- Individuals who work outside the Grand Fond community are encouraged to remain home for the specified period
- Residents are reminded to avoid visiting the elderly and homes of other relatives and friends.
- Community Testing will continue and residents are encouraged to volunteer and participate in the ongoing community testing.
With regards to students from Grand Fond currently sitting the CXC examinations, special arrangements will be made to facilitate these students with their exams to ensure there is no disruption in their exam schedule.
I must underscore that we have recommended these measures for your safety and that of the wider community. While we believe that the situation is under control and advise against panic, we want to urge everyone to remain diligent and we work together to minimize any spread of COVID-19 as we have done previously. We have been confronted with such scenarios in the past, and we have been successful in bringing each situation under control with the support of the community and the diligence of our frontline workers.
At this juncture, I must remind us all across the island to continue to adhere to the basic protocols of handwashing, sanitization, wearing of masks, and physical distancing. The developments over the last few days should remind us that the COVID-19 pandemic is not over and remains an ongoing threat.
As such, we should never let down our guard and our adherence to these basic protocols must continue.
I thank the general public for your cooperation thus far for participating in our vaccination efforts and adhering to our public health and social measures. I am also encouraging everyone to get vaccinated as this is still our main defense against COVID-19.
I also take the opportunity to thank the dedicated team of Health and other frontline workers who have been diligently carrying out their duties over the last few days and keeping us safe during this pandemic. I want to also thank the residents of the Grand Fond community for their extraordinary cooperation.
Once again, I am pleading with all Dominicans to continue to wear face masks, maintain proper respiratory etiquette with regards to how we sneeze and cough, continue physical distancing, and continue the washing of hands. And yes, those who have not yet taken their vaccines should do so with no further delay – it is in your interest and our interest as a nation.
Look a next young healthy person just die again… snare these young people that’s dying vaccinated? What is causing this all of a sudden?
I knew this would happen sometime.
Everything let go. Island wide motor cade for what! No masks. Persons doing what they want. Ridiculous. As persons land they all about the place. Be strict.
And people take your vaccine
Help me understand that because I didn’t go high school. 6 people came down, all 6 were in quarantine at Safe in Nature. 2 were positive at the start then 3 were positive later on. So 2 +3 is 5 right? So if those five people are at “Quarantine” why exactly is Grand Fond under lock down? Cause as far as I know, Government Quarantine on one end of the Island and grand Fond on the other end. How the positive cases were from Grand Fond when the people were supposedly never Grand Fond. They came from the plane to Safe in Nature / Quarantine?
The fact is you all don’t know how many cases of the virus exists, and how many people died from it in the Country; it’s all about lies, and how well Dominica has done against COVID-19.
Every once in a while someone comes forward with the lie; I challenge you McIntyre to disclose the few cases you talk about derive from what strain; could it be the Delta Variance or some other deadly strain?
Doc
Could you tell us why and how these positive cases were allowed into Grand Fond in the first place?
I am looking for the Red Greater belonging to the parl rep of the Grand Fond constituency who allowed people to go home without being tested. The next question is; Those the doc claimed were “fully” vaccinated, were they truly vaccinated? Is it possible that the documentation they produced were false/ fake? Now that we have the problem did the ministry of health confirm their vaccination status with the country of origin? Come on doc don’t be so easily fooled or may I say “stingy with the truth”. And by the way, did you all test and quarantine the folks in the neighboring communities that the said positive cases interacted with? Dca is like a fish decomposing in the sun…..and yes it rots from its head!
According to a radio host; “Dca is pregnant with issues”.
they could not be fully vaccinated and went to a safe in nature.so these people were not vacinated.so they should be quarantine for 14 days not five .when you ask people if they are not getting vaccinated their response is i am not traveling and the they are the first to the airport .we must do like some of the island one you are not vaccinated you are not allowed entry. point blink
They were the ones saying to stop the quarantine because that is a MONEY MAKING thing by the Skerrit and the Government. Now they are singing a different song.
These Useless Wicked People care less.
Imagine an unfortunate incident like that happen in Grade Fond, instead of Dr Pharaoh sympathizes and care about the well being of the Grande Fond people and pray things do not worsen in the community, he comes on Q95, talking about MONEY.First thing that come to mind is,The government should compensate the people the Govt. asked to stay home for the 7 days. No interest and respect for the affected ones.
Looks like money comes before the health and life of the Grande Fond people, but you can’t blame him because that’s all he learns from his leader is about MONEY, SMH.
As usual you produce nothing else but horse manure. You are a disgusting individual with a huge brown nose.
Pauly, you are insignificant as far as I am concerned.
At least I am producing something.
What are you producing with your huge brown nose?
None of your business I would say. As simple as that. Keep your brown nose in check!
This man has SHOCKED so many people. He is now competing with liar Skerrit to see who is the better LIAR!!
How reliable is the COVID-19 testing Protocol?
I am unclear with the mathematics. I would like some guidance. 6 persons came in, all tested on the 5 day, 2 were returned as positive, 4 negative. On the 6th day, all 4 were retested, 3 were return positive, and presumably 1 negative.
One can deduce that the one negative (false=Positive) was not quarantined further but was allowed into the community. Is the Min of Health therefore saying that the COVID-19 community spread was all from this one individual?
Are we to deduce then that the current test kits for COVID-19 being utilized is totally unreliable?
In the 1st round 25% of the result was correct, in the 2nd round 75% of the result was correct … there was presumably no 3rd round testing even if it appears that there may have been interaction among the parties.
Or is it an issue will varying incubation periods?
Did the Min of Health let down its guard this time or is it working with unreliable test kits?…
Good measures and timely information. Thanks for this. Now please, please reinstate quarantine for all arrivals. If we have to re-open for tourism (assuming there are significant numbers of people willing to travel the world at this juncture in the pandemic), it has to be in a way that will continue the high level of protection our island has so far enjoyed, otherwise we will lose more than any tourism dollars that we stand to gain. Considering the stories of these imported cases, from the start of the pandemic till now, it appears likely that people get infected DURING their journey to Dominica. Vaccination does not prevent infection or transmission – symptomatic or otherwise. So please, if this clock can at all be walked back, now is the time. Thanks for your excellent service.
Half truth by the Minister of Health.
Man you are losing credibility…How did the virus enter Grand Fond???. I am sure you know, but you are lying like Skerrit… Who did not do what?
Re liar Skerrit not adhering to the covid protocol, have you condemned it????
Just be a man!!!!
Why didn’t Skerrit go into quarantine upon his return from Venezuela? Why not?
And why was Charles Savarin at the Sisserou Singers show with no mask? And his wife’s mask not covering her nose?
How can they have been in contact with anyone in the community if they were in Safe In Nature accommodation and then government quarantine? Something is missing here.
With all the precautionary measures in place but all six arrivals from the BVI staying at a Safe in Nature guaranteed location how are we sure that such places are secure? What protocols are in place with regard to security and serving staff for instance. If save in nature only means that such premises, which could just be a guest house in the community, must be members of the DHTA and must pay their fee this would leave me distinctively uneasy. It would be useful for the authorities to publish details of the protocol such places must adhere to in order to re-assure the public so they can vet for themselves before making a reservation.
You still seem to be hiding something from the public, and i wonder why DLP politicians behave this way…How exactly did the spread enter into the village?
This is important to me. Did someone enter the village through the back door?
Did someone say to hell with quarantine, and just go to his/her village of Grandfond?
BE HONEST!!
Dr Irving McIntyre, you and your entire health team are a bunch of brainless idiots. And God forbid we have a surge in covid-19 cases it will be partly your fault. Why send home person’s who travelled together with others who tested positive for the virus? Vaccinated or not u can spread covid. Stop trying to prove to the world that we ‘can’ handle covid and let person’s who come in vaccinated or unvaccinated quarantine for the full 14 days.
Are any health officials checking to see if the relatively young people who are dying recently were vaccinated? And if there may be a correlation?
@Waiting For Airport – Aye, I’m also hearing a number of these observations on the ground about an increase in the number of younger-aged persons’ who have died.
The investigative journalists need to probe into this to see whether these observations are actually true and if true, whether such persons were vaccinated/unvaccinated and/or had pre-existing illnesses which caused their deaths (unrelated to vaccines).
Coincidence or something else at work…
Something does not make sense or something is missing from this press release.
The link between the visitors on the plane from tortola and the community of Grand fond; since according to the health minister all those who were discovered to be positive from the safe in nature facility were sent to the isolation unit one time.
Dont know why the authorities can’t be straight at all times.
Cruise ships coming when ?
Excellent measures to prevent community transmission of this pandemic,Dominica continues to give an example of how to combat this pandemic and take care of the health of its poulation
Dominica is not doing anything different from many of the other countries around the region. Most of these countries are testing at their airports; one has to submit a PCR test three days in advance of traveling to these countries; mandatory quarantine is done for anyone arriving from overseas; the wearing of mask in public spaces is mandatory, etc. What is unique or special about what Dominica is doing?
The chances that other countries in the region may contract more COVID-19 cases than Dominica is simply due to the fact that they attract many more tourists/visitors. Keep it real and honest. Far too many lies go unchallenged in this country.
not true i just came from Barbados, Grenada and St Lucia you are not quarantined once you are vaccinated. fyi