As the Government attempts to determine why the United States Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) has reclassified Antigua & Barbuda as a Level 4 destination, a Washington source says the country’s COVID-19 data is viewed as “unreliable.”
Responding to the country’s new designation, Foreign Affairs Minister Paul “Chet” Greene reportedly expressed his government’s shock that the country has been placed in the “very high risk” category.
He says he is confused, since there is no community spread and no clusters of the virus here.
Antigua & Barbuda was classified as a Category 3, “high risk” destination, only a month ago, and Ambassador to the Unites States Sir Ronald Sanders was seeking to have this reversed.
Sanders is expected to make contact with CDC officials today (Tuesday, November 24) “to ascertain the basis on which the country has been placed in a ‘very high risk’ category for travel,” a release says.
But “Antigua’s positivity COVID-19 rate is too high, and its testing is woefully low based on the CDC criterion,” a Washington source tells REAL News.
“Asking Ron Sanders to speak to the CDC is kind of silly and will not yield any results. Moreover, calling the CDC to explain the obvious will only validate the CDC conclusion,” he says. “The country’s data is faulty and unreliable.”
The source says the US medical fraternity – as well as local doctors – believes “Antigua has been grossly under-reporting COVID-19 cases” and that the country “has pretty high community spread.”
But the Browne Administration continues to claim that it has implemented and devised strict protocols for curbing the deadly virus.
Local residents, meanwhile, are speculating that the re-classification might have to do with the country’s most recent COVID-19 death.
Two Fridays ago, on November 13, a Venezuelan engineer died less than 24 hours after being admitted to the hospital with the coronavirus. He had been here for only six days prior to his death.
One woman tells REAL News that the Government needs to stop with its two-tiered implementation of protocols and regulations. She cites the “special dispensation” granted to the Venezuelan, which, she says, allowed him to place other workers at risk.
This is the type of thing that gets us on the “very high risk” rating, she says.
Another woman says she does not understand why the Government is expressing shock when the USA is monitoring the Caribbean region closely.
According to her, the Government has to truly demonstrate that the island is safe for travel, and stop giving some persons preferential treatment, which seems to have landed us in this more-serious position.
In the meantime, Minister Greene says the CDC has an obligation to inform the country if there is something not being done and of which the authorities here should be aware.
He says “putting us on a ‘very high risk’ list without notice, explanation or consultation cannot be right.”
Meanwhile, Barbados and St. Lucia have been placed at the Level 2 or “moderate risk” category. — SOURCE: REAL News
Advertise with the mоѕt vіѕіtеd nеwѕ ѕіtе іn Antigua!
We offer fully customizable and flexible digital marketing packages.
Contact us at [email protected]
How many of you living in Antigua are prepared to be tested tomorrow if random mass testing is announced?
I can bet you won’t even get 10 of them. All them can do is stay behind their phone phone screen and type them crap. Hell I even believe most of these comments are done by one person.
Are you the person?
Just like people all over the world are being tested regularly to keep their countries safe.
Stop making excuses for a government who has failed to do their job.
I’ve been tested FOUR times thus far. It’s a little bit uncomfortable for about 30 seconds but it’s worth the piece of mind.
You still will get covid-19 sometime in your life, whether you test yes or not.
Where are these so called people infected with Covid in Antigua as you very smart people know exists but are not revealed because of no testing? Are they overflowing the ER rooms in Antigua or dying in the streets or filling up Barnes and the Pastor’s inherited place (formerly Straffies!)?
Not a pin can drop in Anu without being on social media so how are all these deaths and people on ventilators kept hidden? Does Gaston, Sir Molywyn and the CMO have some underground bunker somewhere where there cases are hidden?
Note: Things do happen that are invisible. Like a Customs officer taken from him home in broad daylight and executed but in all fairness the Police would have solved this already were they not containing the Almighty Covid which comes out after 11pm and is killing everyone (4?) left right and center.
@Alergic to BS…You hit the nail right on the head with your first paragraph. Where are these people indeed if the numbers the government puts out are soo wrong. Are they coincidentally all asymptomatic?
Ammmm America don’t give a damn bout Antigua and secondly they watching China’s close relation with us so most likely they won’t trust us…January 2021 when Biden takes over and puts his trust back into China maybe things will be a bit different…
Very high risk. The bus drivers always like to pack us like sardines.
Well better for us the tourists wont come here to infect us
Girl I’m with you!!! Tell them keep that crap there!!
There is no community spread but why cases are listed as imported and non imported cases? all this time they were using measures trying to supress the locals to look good in the international eyes in a way to market tourism and list us as the safest in caribbean. Alot of international countries are watching us and are not fooled by the covid chart
I think you’re the only one that believes that.
The numbers are much higher in countries with similar geographics and demographics whose governments are much more active in controlling COVID.
It makes no sense that Antigua’s numbers are supposedly so low but they won’t test OR quarantine the thousands of tourists who come here every month.
The pandemic plan clearly evolved into just hiding cases and pretending the numbers were low. Anyone with a brain could figure out that would only work for a short period of time.
@LOL Okay…would you do a test tomorrow if it is mandatory?
Yo dumbo you writing Mia Mottley about this
The government will only allow a Covid test for outward bound travellers, those to undergo surgery and those with symptoms. Otherwise, no test going take place. Again, Barbados, St. Kitts and other Caribbean countries are testing EVERY SINGLE ARRIVAL into their country, some twice. That is why their covid data is deemed more reliable than us. Visitors walk right through our airport with no test at all. It makes sense that they deem us high risk due to unreliable covid data, doesn’t it?
Antigua is purposefully testing as few people as possible.
That is the only reason the numbers look low.
Because they certainly have not implemented intelligent pandemic management strategies.
Finally, someone official said what we all know is to be true.
Now, maybe Antigua officials will finally start doing their job and protecting citizens from this deadly disease.
So, far they’ve managed to risk all of our lives AND destroy tourism.
“Antigua has been grossly under-reporting COVID-19 cases” and that the country “has pretty high community spread.”
What anyone who has been paying attention has known for months.
All of the people behind this farce and fraud should lose their jobs starting with the PM
Who the hell can trust a policy that allows tourist from high Covid rate regions take a test 7 days before arrival and don’t qurantine.
If Antigua is at Cat-4, I am wondering what category is the USA? Perhaps cat-1000 or maybe they have not devised a category for yet?
Why are people still worried about that propaganda. Someone mentioned we got that grade because we not testing all visitors here: our government have put far more things in place that the USA. Perhaps the CDC should take lessons from Antigua.
You’re funny.
The US is a hot kettle of ****. And at this point so is Antigua.
I guess the difference is the US isn’t begging diseased tourists to come there and make everyone sick to get their $$$$.
The point, which you seemed to have missed, is the Antiguan government should be protecting its citizens. This CDC is right to advise US citizens not to travel to a hotbed of disease (even if ironically it was US citizens who brought the disease to this island).
@JBF. Cat 1000 maybe but the US holds the handle and us the blade. Its time for us to become serious and stop believing that we can bluff our way through life, as ABLP has done sucessfully in Antigua.
Agreed 💯. The nonsensical comments coming from these Naysayers is unbelievable and downright shameful especially coming to so called people that says they loved Wadadli. The truth be told it can’t be from the posivity rates when other Caribbean country is far higher than Wadadli and the USA has one of worst infection in the whole World. You haters must stop playing your dirty political game’s.
Not time to double down on your ridiculous pandemic management plan which was in essence harass citizens and hide cases.
Now is the time to follow the lead of the many countries who are getting it right like NZ, Barbados, Cuba, etc. and protect your citizens.
It will never work when you have a Draconian dictator govt that doesn’t follow its own rules.
This is not a surprise.
Mr Knight shut up.. The problem i,s y’all play too much politics..
@Lol okay
There is no community spread is not my words , i was asking a question
People would like to know their status but the price to do the test is tooooo high ($300.00). Some do not have food to eat so where will they get testing money from. Drop the price to even $50.00
Is this another American plot by the outgoing Trumpers? You just can’t trust any of them.
The Biden government who takes this pandemic very seriously will not treat Antigua any better if our covid status report looks shady….
Ok, fair enough, we need to do more testing, but where are all these sick people with Covid. Or do Antigua has some special immunity that people are not getting sick. Is this US source a certain Antiguan that use to live in the US that is now a political candidate?
US Source…this is such a low level class of reporting. Give credibility to what you are trying to portray. If you dont wish to name the source then given his rank in the US so people can know whether he speaks from a position of authority. Who knows this very source in the US might be Percy!!!!! After all, he is in the US and he is a Source!
Reading all these comments I’m convinced that Antiguans love to tear down their own country all for the sake of politics. If Antigua covid numbers were really higher than what is being reported then why the hospital is not being overruned and why arent people dropping down like flies. Y’all say the government putting money over people’s health but who exactly is the government suppose to get money to run the country again without tourist? Some of you need to get a life and get the hell off the internet.
Starting with yourself !
One walking himself to the hospital suddenly died
One fell in the gutter and suddenly died
Many found home alone suddenly dead
The public was given no information on those people so we have no idea if pandemic related or not
I know a lot of sick people were not tested and told to stay home. I assume most of them recovered and some died and we heard nothing of it and some will have complications and we will hear nothing about that either
As for how many people are at the hospital or the new infectious disease center, we have no way to know about that either
Replay to @vanni-if our government should have learned one lesson from this it IS we can’t let tourism be our main industry. We need to diversify. We can’t depend on that tourist dollar alone.
Is it Antigua economy alone crash genius or was it the whole wide world. Maybe you should use the internet to do something else than government bashing.
There is a cure for this dreaded virus but because of our political bias we fail to see the big picture. Donald trump was sick with covid 19, he was admitted to hospital and within two days he was cured of the virus. Big mouth tweeting trump said that the treatment he got should be available to all. Currently limited supplies of this treatment is been distributed to US hospitals to treat critically ill covid-19 patients.
Instead of cleaning up their act they just doubled down on the “ we’re so confused because we have no community spread here and only a couple of COVID cases ”
Absolute 🤡 show
Will they learn this time?
Starting to suspect this administration has been BS’ing through their entire time in power. Now their incompetence and corruption has been exposed by the pandemic. And they clearly have no idea how to act like competent leaders.
Nobody is trying to tear down their country, alot of people realise what is going on. Too much lies is spreading faster than covid so thats why there will be questions when we are not getting the truth
Comments are closed.