BVI Ambulances. The British territory's hospital has been overburdened with sick Covid patients, with 17 currently admitted and 18 awaiting approval for admittance. Photo Credit: BVI GOVERNMENT
USVI neighbor the British Virgin Islands is currently being overwhelmed by the Covid-19 virus, and the government has called for 21 days of prayer and fasting as the British territory turns to faith for help.
"The BVI is now in a situation of advanced community spread," BVI Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr. Ronald 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."
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.
On Sunday, the British territory announced 21 days of prayer and fasting, which began on Sunday and titled, “Let’s Bring the Covid-19 Situation Back Under Control.”
BVI Premier Andrew Fahie stated, "Choose your own time in the day and individually or collectively petition GOD to continue to keep us all safe and protected from the plans of the enemy. We will win this battle. I look forward to our people coming together, praying together, and believing in GOD together, as we once again watch GOD work."
Mr. Fahie said Sunday that the 21-day prayer and fast was inspired by holy scriptures of Daniel and additionally as words written in Ezra 8:21-23 which states, "…I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions….So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.”
He added, “I am asking persons to send up the praise and prayers to Abba, our Father. Our ancestors always took refuge in the Hands of GOD and they saw victory prevail. Let us keep each other safe. Let us make sure that we focus our efforts on building up each other. Let us focus on making sure that our economy is strengthened and not weakened. Let us continue to unite in our love for these Virgin Islands. Let us all do our part to save our Virgin Islands and to restore and preserve our way of life. Let us each do everything that is in our power to keep our people and our shores safe, in BVI LOVE. We’re in this together.”
The BVI has imposed strict Covid restrictions and tightened its nightly curfew as the virus has spread rapidly through the territory.
