Covid-19 in the U.S. Virgin Islands, following trends in the U.S., U.K. and other major economies, have been experiencing steep declines, receding sharply from the Omicron surge when active infections arrived at near 4,000 in the territory early January.
As of Tuesday, there were 115 active cases territory-wide, with St. Croix accounting for 79, followed by St. Thomas with 32 and St. John with 4, according to the V.I. Dept. of Health — the lowest since Dec. 21, 2021, when total cases also stood at 115 territory-wide.
The continued diminishing of the virus in the USVI and in the U.S. comes as Governor Albert Bryan is expected to make some major announcements related to Covid-19 Monday. Mr. Bryan has said he will ease most restrictions except for the wearing of masks and Travel Portal protocols. The administration announced Tuesday that there would be no Covid-related press briefings this week, suggesting an information-filled event for Monday, Feb. 28.
"We are working on a plan that should have most restrictions except mask [mandate] and [the USVI Travel] Portal gone by March 1," Mr. Bryan told the Consortium earlier this month. "This would include all government employees returning to work and all schools going to full schedule."
The governor's decision isn't unique, governments around the world, including Democratic states that once held the most stringent Covid rules, have been abandoning them. Last week, California said it would begin to treat Covid-19 as an endemic. "We are moving past the crisis phase into a phase where we will work to live with this virus," Governor Gavin Newsom said.
According to the Wall Street Journal, newly reported Covid-19 deaths are starting to decline on the mainland, driven by drops in the Northeast and Midwest.
WSJ said that the deaths, which tend to follow cases by several weeks, appear to be following the same pattern by declining in the places hit hard early on. “I think we’re coming down,” said Beth Blauer, the data lead for the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center, which compiles pandemic data.
England has taken the biggest steps toward normalcy by far among the world's major economies in its response to Covid. According to the BBC, all Covid restrictions will end in England on Thursday and free mass testing will stop from 1 April.
Advertisements
