National Epidemiologist, Dr Shallaudin Ahmed has announced that to-date Dominica has recorded 42 confirmed cases of Covid-19 with 9 currently active cases.
He made the announcement during a press briefing on Wednesday night.
“As of today the total number of confirmed cases of Covid in Dominica is 42, the number of active cases is 9, the last 7 cases are from 3 different communities, in 3 different health districts,” he said.
He continued, “Of the seven (7), five of them are from one community identified as contacts of a positive case from one particular village.”
Dr. Ahmed said these 5 cases were detected through contact investigation and community drives.
“We have initiated another Community- Based Screening drive, in this phase we have successfully completed 3 communities in 3 health districts,” he stated.
He said a total of 45 individuals were tested using the PCR method and 60 individuals were serological methods from these communities.
“From all the 45 PCR tests only 1 turned out to be positive, however this individual was a contact of one of the earlier positive cases,” Dr. Ahmed explained. “All 60 serology test results are negative for antibodies.”
He went on to say that a total of 105 individuals were screened during the community drive.
In addition to the community screening Dr. Ahmed said another 112 contacts were identified through contact tracing.
“Of these 112, 69 individuals have been tested and of this 69, 4 cases are positive and 65 are negative,” he revealed. “The remaining 43 are pending.”
He indicated that Community- Based Screening in other health districts is to continue in the upcoming days.
“At this stage the transmission still remains as a cluster of cases,” he noted.
Meantime, as the country prepared to celebrate its 42 years of independence, Dr. Ahmed advised members of the public to be mindful of how their behavior may affect the well-being of others, “and so we need to continue to act in ways that prevent the spread of Covid-19.”