Honourable Premier and Minister of Finance and Health, Ellis L. Webster, MD held a Press Conference on November 1st, 2021 at 2pm, with the purpose of providing the Anguillian public with information regarding COVID-19, and its ramifications, as specified by the Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Aisha Andrewin and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health and Social Development, Mr. Foster Rogers. A brief update on other Government Business to date was also provided by members of Cabinet, and the RAPF Commissioner, Mr. David Lynch, in answer to questions related to specific areas of concern to their areas of responsibility.
Premier Webster reminded the public that, “what’s important is COVID-19; it is real [and] has devastating effects. We’ve had one death. Let’s remember those who are afflicted with the disease here and abroad; those who have passed, pray for their souls and for their families, that they find comfort. Pray for those who are dealing with family members who are severe and near dying, that they realise that the effects of this virus can lead to death, and every time someone dies, a lot of us are affected by that.”
Premier Webster indicated that, while there are no plans to shut down the country, everyone should take personal responsibility for preventing the spread of the COVID-19 virus. He said, “Even though we have decided that we are not going to lock down the country, and we are not going into curfews, we want to stress personal responsibility. We all are responsible for our own selves, [and] also for those around us – our brothers and sisters, our parents and grandparents, our children, those who are vulnerable.” He encouraged persons to observe the health protocols which he said are important tools to fight this pandemic: wearing masks, social distancing, proper hygiene, and the vaccines, [because] “you can’t rely on government to always protect you; you have to bear some responsibility.”
Despite the Government of Anguilla’s efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of persons testing positive for the virus is steadily increasing. The Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Aisha Andrewin, noted in her COVID-19 update: “We have continued to see an increase in our active cases, [and] on the global scene, it is not that different, with a grim milestone of over 247 million [positive] cases world-wide, [resulting in] over 5 million deaths.” She continued: “What has changed dramatically, is the concept that we are now having cases of the virus. Most countries have abandoned the elimination approach and we are still grappling with [this] in terms of our response and our expectations. We recognize that we are in a different place, and grasp the reality that things are much different [with respect to the different Delta Variants] from what we imagined them to be a year ago or even to achieve by this point. We can still keep our numbers in check through vaccination, and the other measures, to ensure that we lose as few persons as possible and minimize the deaths and hospitalizations as much as possible.”
COVID-19 Statistics as shared by Dr. Andrewin
Looking at the COVID-19 statistics as of mid-day on Monday, 1st November 2021, Dr. Andrewin shared: 40 new cases; 984 cases since the beginning of the pandemic; 42 recoveries; 874 total recoveries; 109 active cases; 8 hospitalised persons in the isolation unit; 1 person flown out last week on a ventilator.
Dr. Andrewin reported that, “As a country, we have been maintaining high test-positivity rates at 11% for the last 3 weeks. Ideally, we would like this to be under 5%.” The latest positive COVID-19 cases classifications are:
• Test Positivity Rate: 11%
• Vaccinated Cases: 46%
• Unvaccinated Cases: 54%
• Unvaccinated Cases Who Are Mnors: 53%
• Unvaccinated Cases Overall Who Are Minors: 30%
• Hospitalisations: 8 in addition to 1 person currently off island seeking treatment.
• Household Transmission: 49%
• Social Contact Transmission: 11%
The Chief Medical Officer noted that, the majority of persons with positive COVID-19 test results, had been symptomatic at the time of testing. She also noted that, “although we are still importing some positive cases, the issue right now is that we are having more local and community transmission on island.” She also indicated that a new category of transmission on Anguilla has been identified: a few cases have been identified in school children, and has forced an extension of the closure of schools. She also noted that, “There have been new category patterns of transmission of the virus as well: over 50% of the positive cases have been through household transmission; about 60% through social contacts; and around 25% with persons having no known link to a cluster or recent history of travel. These new categories and patterns have resulted in community transmission. As a result, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has kept Anguilla at a level 3 classification [as a travel destination].”
Keeping safe in this COVID-19 era
The Permanent Secretary of Health, Mr. Foster Rogers, echoed the Premier in his appeal for persons to take personal responsibility for assisting in the control of transmission of the COVID-19 virus on Anguilla. “The Ministry [of Health] has done a lot in terms of ensuring that people had the correct information; we were able to get vaccinations in; we were able to vaccinate almost 10,000 people with first dose and over 9,000 people with the second dose; we’ve come a long way in ensuring that persons had access to the vaccinations. We’ve also done a lot of testing –over 50,000, and quarantining to ensure we had a good picture of the epidemiology of the virus on the island,” he said.
Mr. Rogers noted that the Ministry of Health had “spent quite a bit of money in human resources and other resources.” He further explained the impacts of COVID-19 on the Ministry’s budget. He said that the budget for this year would be above what is normally budgeted for regular health programmes. This year, the budget is expected to be over $1.6 million in order to fund the initiatives that will be employed to help bring the COVID-19 test positivity rate down. “When you get a test positivity rate of 10% that speaks to a virus that is out of control. Ideally, we would want that [the test positivity rate] between 2% and 5%.”
Mr. Rogers spoke to the issue of lock downs as a strategy for protection from the virus. He noted that, although other countries have tried to inoculate themselves by shutting down, they have not been able to eliminate the virus from their countries, “because people have to move.” Other countries are now looking at containment as a strategy, and Anguilla should do the same. He noted that, “In Anguilla, where our economy is based on tourism [and] the movement of people, [including] the movement of people from countries of very high prevalence [of COVID-19], we have to ensure that our strategies are centered around containing the virus to ensure that we can keep our borders open, to ensure that businesses can trade, people can work and the country can function.”
Continuing, Mr. Rogers said: “We’ve done what we think this Ministry can do to protect its public: we are getting our structure in place, getting equipment in place, we now have our drive-thru testing up and running, we are increasing our human resources at the hospital to ensure we can get out tests out, and we’ve extended the lab to ensure we can test more for the virus.”
He stressed that, “now is the time for ‘concomitant’ responsibility of the community.” He encouraged persons to: wear masks when masks are necessary, social distance when it is necessary and practice proper hygiene as always. He implored persons to get vaccinated, as there is a clear difference in the positivity test rate, hospitalisation rate, as well as recovery rate of those who are vaccinated and unvaccinated.
Other issues
1). Isolation Overflow Capacity: At present, the COVID-19 isolation ward at the Princess Alexandria Hospital is full to its capacity. The Ministry of Health is looking into the possibility of relocating the current psychiatric patients and converting the psychiatric ward to accommodate an overflow of COVID-19 patients.
2). Early Identification Of COVID-19 Cases: In an effort to contain the COVID-19 virus, the Ministry of Health is considering conducting Rapid PCR periodic testing on major job sites and schools.
Vaccinations and Booster Shots
Persons interested in receiving either the vaccine or the booster shot, are encouraged to register on the appropriate website. Parents are encouraged to attend the scheduled Virtual PTA session on November 2nd for more information and guidance.
Shipment of Pfizer vaccine: expected on November 3rd.
• prioritised for children ages 12-17 (1 dose of vaccine)
• pregnant women and persons who are interested (1st dose of vaccine)
• frontline workers (I dose of booster)
• adults over 50 (1 dose of booster)
• adults 16-49 at risk groups or immunocompromised (1 dose of booster)
• persons living in residential care facilities (1 dose of booster)
New strategy for persons arriving on Anguilla
The Government of Anguilla, under the guidance of the Ministry of Health, has made changes to its COVID-19 protocols for persons arriving in Anguilla. These new protocols are in effect beginning on 1st November, 2021.
Vaccinated Travelers
• Test on arrival; negative result, released after 24 hrs; positive result, remain in isolation
• Test on day 4 (for surveillance and depending on country of origin of travel)
Unvaccinated Travelers
• Test on arrival
• Quarantine for 10 days
