The Celebrity Summit cruise ship. The ship's call to the BVI scheduled for Thurs. July 15 was canceled due to the worsening Covid situation in the British territory.
TORTOLA, BVI — As the British Virgin Islands continues to experience its worst Covid-19 crisis since the onset of the pandemic, the BVI's Health Ministry on Tuesday reported its fourth Covid-related death, three of which occurred in one week during the current surge of cases.
The latest count of active cases was 1,286, recorded on July 10, according to BVI Acting Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Ronald Georges. The number is expected to increase when new data is provided, and Dr. Georges has been urging BVI residents to practice safety protocols.
The deceased was identified as a 45-year-old female with pre-existing medical conditions who at the time of death was a patient at the Dr. D. Orlando Smith Hospital, according to the BVI government.
“Every death is difficult as we are a small, close community, but we all must continue to play our part to stop transmission, increases in cases and deaths,” Dr. Georges said.
The BVI hospital admissions summary as of July 13 is as follows:
- 10 persons admitted to ER with 2 deaths
- 13 persons admitted to the Covid-19 ward
- 1 person admitted to behavioral health unit
- 5 persons admitted to ICU, 1 death
- 29 hospital admitted patients (28 patients were unvaccinated, 1 patient vaccinated)
As of Sunday, eighteen persons were at the BVI hospital emergency room — including the triage tent — being evaluated for admission. Additionally, seventeen patients were admitted to the hospital as of Sunday, sixteen of whom were unvaccinated and one vaccinated.
Celebrity Summit's Call to BVI Canceled
Meanwhile, as BVI continues to experience its worst Covid-19 surge with advance community spread taking place, Celebrity Cruises, whose Celebrity Millennium cruise ship on July 1 docked at the CB Romney Tortola Pier Park, has cancelled its latest call for the Celebrity Summit.
The BVI Port Authority made the announcement of the cancellation. The ship was set to arrive Thursday. "As a result of the high number of active Covid-19 cases within the territory, the organizations involved agreed that it was in the best interest for all to cancel the call to the port," the BVI Port Authority said.
"The BVI is now in a situation of advanced community spread," Dr. Georges said during an address to residents Sunday.
He said the BVI performed 5,592 tests between July 3-9, returning 989 positive Covid results. "This brings the total number of positives to 1,147 as of July 10, 2021," Dr. Georges said. The results equate to a positivity rate of 17 percent. He added that from July 9 through Sunday there were 149 positive results, with another 111 results still pending.
"The BVI has seen exponential growth in active cases with a trend of increasing number of daily reports of new cases," Dr. Georges said. This trend "appears to have stabilized, however large numbers of new cases are expected to continue to be reported for several days."
He said because the BVI is in an advanced stage of community transmission, "all persons are presently at risk of contracting Covid-19."
Dr. Georges further stated, "Geographical distribution and contact tracing are irrelevant at this point because we are in a situation of very high transmission and community spread throughout the territory. This means that all persons must take urgent and immediate steps to limit their exposure to stop the spread of the virus. Testing is less important at this time. It's less important than strict adherence to public health measures and getting vaccinated."
