After more than four weeks with fewer than 20 active Covid-19 cases reported in the territory, government announced April 21 that there were 95 active cases — up from 19 as of the previous update on April 7.
Eighty-six of the cases were found on Tortola, according to the government’s Covid-19 dashboard. Eight were found on Virgin Gorda, and one on Jost Van Dyke.
Sixty-two of the cases were found locally, 20 on entry screening at “day five,” five through contact tracing, four on entry screening at “day zero,” and four through travel screening.
As of last Thursday, there were four people in the hospital with Covid-19 symptoms, the update stated.
Despite the spike in numbers, government didn’t announce any changes in restrictions. Just before Easter, officials had decided to ease restrictions, lifting an outdoor mask mandate and removing the need to social distance in indoor spaces.
Meanwhile, in the United States, the White House’s new Covid-19 coordinator, Dr. Ashish Jha, said recently that the US government is keeping a watchful eye for new variants as cases increase.
But he cited low death rates and hospitalisations compared to the beginning of the pandemic. Infectious disease experts say that many of the new confirmed cases globally are a result of omicron subvariants.