St. Vincent Fears COVID-19 Outbreak with La Soufriere Volcano Evacuations, AP Says
KINGSTOWN — Officials in St. Vincent said today that they were extremely worried about a COVID-19 outbreak given the lack of water and more positive cases being reported as thousands of evacuees fleeing the erupting volcano crowd into shelters and private homes.
About a dozen cases have been reported in recent days, with at least five evacuees staying in two homes and one shelter testing positive, exposing at least 20 people to the virus, said Dr. Simone Keizer-Beache, chief medical officer on the Caribbean island.
Keizer-Beache said officials are preparing to do massive testing as part of contact tracing, a complicated undertaking given that between 16,000 to 20,000 people were evacuated before La Soufriere’s explosive eruptions started on Friday. She also urged people to keep wearing masks and asked them to cooperate, noting that some who arrive at shelters do not want to be tested, which is voluntary.
“Let us work together to prevent a second catastrophe,” she said in a press conference broadcast by local station NBC Radio.
Read more: https://vifreepress.com/2021/04/st-vincent-fears-covid-19-outbreak-with-la-soufriere-volcano-evacuations-ap-says/
(Virgin Islands Free Press)
