PM Concludes That There Is No Community Spread Of COVID-19 In Antigua

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Prime Minister Gaston Browne

Prime Minister, Gaston Browne has revealed that the results from the submission of 40 tests, to CARPHA in Trinidad since February, indicate that there is no community spread, as experienced in Italy and the USA.

Community Spread is defined as not knowing how and from whom the infected person became a carrier of the coronavirus.

In Antigua’s case, those who are undertaking the contact-tracing have been a team of experienced sleuths (having worked through HIV contact-tracing in the past); they work many hours doing the search.

Forty tests in total have been submitted, 15 have returned negative. Only four of the infected persons live in Antigua; one is a taxi-driver who was exposed to a traveler; the other three traveled away from Antigua within recent times.

Browne concluded that clearly the Antiguans and residents have been abiding by the rules which have limited the spread.

Nonetheless, in order to avoid a wave of secondary infections, the State of Emergency is set to continue as well as the curfew, permitted under the Emergency Law, has been extended for a week,

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21 COMMENTS

  1. So the taxi driver caught the virus from a traveller, doesn’t that count as community spread?? How many other people did the taxi driver come into contact with ?? Have all been accounted for and tested, also the traveller who infected the taxi driver have all those who they came into contact with been contacted and tested?? A little early to say there is no community spread,

    • By the definition of “community spread” in the article, there has been none. Once it has been established how and by whom it was transmitted it is NOT community spread. According to that definition. I also didn’t know that’s what the term meant.

  2. 57 tests have been done to date so this information is not correct. The plumber who passed is likely community spread. I’m also not sure that the doctors who became infected can definitively say which patient they contracted the virus from. I think they need to stop pushing this narrative lest the people come off their guard thinking they are not at risk

  3. THESE ARE KIND OF STATEMENT YOU GET WHEN YOU GIVE A LITTLE BOY A BIG MAN POSITION TO WORK FROM!!! I THINK THIS SUCH AND IDIOTIC STATEMENT TO MAKE, ITS TOO EARLY IN THE GAME FOR THAT KIND OF STATEMENT. PEOPLE WHILE THEY CREATIVELY ENRICHING THEMSELVES, LETS CREATIVELY PROTECT OURSELVES CAUSE CLEARLY THEY DON’T CARE!!!!

  4. Isn’t it a bit too early to come to this conclusion. The 40+ year old who walked into the hospital last Saturday coughing and has since died, was he in self isolation? Where was he before coming into the hospital? Who did he get into contact with? Come on I need answers please. What about those patients Dr. John spoke about? Murder, Mr. PM please, please I beg you don’t be too hasty let us make sure “WE” really have no community spread. I beg you

  5. This is like the riddles on FB, of the 4 living in Antigua, less the taxi driver, is one of the remaining 3 who traveled, the airport worker who sadly passed away?

  6. Mr PM you should not count your chickens before the eggs are hatched. Another Caribbean island was boasting the other day they were COVID19 free and then wham! they were hit by at lease 3 more cases. Saying that and looking at how our people are behaving during this lock down is a recipie for disaster.

  7. Mr Prime minister I’m confused.
    From my knowledge 40 is a number of the past. From the last press release from the ministry of health we were told 17 additional cases were sent off to be tested, shouldn’t that be reflected in the number of tested cases? I think it’s time the authorities stop misleading the public. You said only 4 persons from the cases that came back positive are Antiguans, are we to be left with the assumption that the 1 nurse and 2 doctors are Cubans? Here’s the maths broken down for the 4 Antiguans that we are aware of;
    2 deaths are Antiguans
    1 Antiguan doctor is on respirator
    1 is a taxi driver that was treated and sent home after a few days.
    That brings us to a total of 4 Antiguans.
    Are we to assume those on ventilators and the other 2 that’s been hospitalized aren’t Antiguans?

  8. The definition of community spread is very specific…It is a positive infection with NO traceable origin. As long as we can backtrack the source of infection to a specific exposure or person/s (no matter how far or over what time period) it is not termed community spread. The PM van say no community spread because apparently everyone who is positive knows how he/she was infected. The problem is that we have not tested widely enough to be “confident” that there is no community spread. You cant identify community spread if you have not tested for it.

  9. With only 40 tests or 57 tests (whatever the # is to date) we have 19 positive cases. This means 20 – 30% of the Covid-19 tests were positive. Community spread or not, these numbers are alarming. The govt should DO more and TALK less. We need more aggressive testing. Gather the data through more testing and be guided by the data!

  10. It’s dangerous to think that there is no community spread on Island. Per what I have read, it is estimated that one positive person can infect up to 3 people without knowing.

  11. No community spread of the Covid 19 virus.So all of the persons tested positive for the Virus brought it into Antigua.That is a very dangerous statement to make in my opinion.There are 21 positive cases in Antigua.Based on what Gaston Browne is saying.They all came into country with the Virus.No one contracted it in Antigua and spread it to another.Am I right in my assessment of his statements.

  12. People what he trying to say is that all cases are traceable to a source. That’s it! Whether the source come from overseas or right here. If there was a community spread people wouldn’t know where they got it which would make it harder to eliminate.

  13. I think people don’t understand the term “community spread” that’s why the comments are as such maybe the PM need to explain better? IDK?

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