On July 19th, Hon. Carvin Malone, Minister of Health and Social Development, announced that a patient, which travelled to St. Vincent and the Grenadines from the British Virgin Islands on July 15th 2020, tested positive with COVID-19.
The patient was tracked back to the Island of Jost Van Dyke.
This revelation caused a rippling effect causing the residents of Jost Van Dyke to be put under lockdown conditions and testing for COVID-19.
In a live press conference held on, 1st August, Hon. Carvin Malone announced that the Government of the Virgin Islands has received confirmation from St. Vincent and Grenadines that after the second sets of tests from CAPHRA, the test results of the patient related to Jost Van Dyke, have now been reported as negative.
Hon. Malone said that due to the delay in receiving this news he still believed that the actions taken were necessary as a preventative measure, although the test have now returned negative.
He said “We are very extremely pleased with the results and because of the extended period of time in receiving the official notification we remain confident that the preempted steps taken were required to prevent community spread had the final results proven different. “
The lockdown on Jost Van Dyke frustrated many residents and the government was met with some resistance after the implementation of the lockdown. The lockdown caused many businesses to close for a number of days.
Minister Malone expressed his empathy towards the residents of Jost Van Dyke.
He continued “We empathise with the businesses and residents of Jost Van Dyke for economic and social disturbances caused as a result of the lockdown. We thank everyone for coming out to be tested, to ensure that all of us remain healthy and safe.”