After having only 23 active cases of COVID-19 and no deaths, Grenada became COVID free in mid-June.  The Ministry of Health reported the welcome statistics, and all Grenadians sighed with relief.  Protocols remained in place, people followed the protocols, but tensions reduced, and people began cautiously resuming a more typical lifestyle – with stores, restaurants, and businesses slowly reopening.  Of course, the Government still enforced wearing masks, hand sanitizing, and social distancing everywhere, but we saw a glimmer of hope for health and normality.

Grenada remained COVID free during July, August, and September.  People started feeling safer, and we only read about new cases happening elsewhere. Although Grenadians were getting lax about wearing masks at all times, we still donned them when coming close to others plus hand sanitizing when entering any store, restaurant, or business.  It was so pleasant living in the COVID free bubble. People were cautious but felt safe.

Local schools began their fall semester online-only, and St. George’s University campus remained closed for students, conducting classes online.  After a month, the local schools started to partially open with students going to classes on staggered days – 1 to 2 days per week. Now, local schools are back in session for everyone every day.

Finally, the airport opened to UK and European flights and then US flights one month later.  Grenadians have mixed feelings about this.  We rely heavily on tourism for jobs and business revenue, but with the airport opening, we expose the population to imported cases COVID.

Overall, due to robust travel protocols, and a requirement to stay in mandatory quarantine until receiving a negative PCR test, cases are identified while people are in quarantine, and there has been little community spread.   The most significant issue has been people who breached quarantine before their test results came back, and those results were positive.  Breaching quarantine creates a massive problem for the country and unsuspecting individuals who come in close contact with infected individuals.

One person who breached quarantine immediately went to several parties. As a result, 77 people who came into close contact with him needed to quarantine.  A second breach (by a US doctor who definitely should have known better) resulted in 40 additional people being quarantined.  People who breach quarantine are fined $3,000 EC (about $1,100 US), which seems like a paltry amount given the potential community spread, the disruption to businesses and innocent individuals who then have to quarantine for a minimum of 5-7 days.

In both breaches, the virus spread to others in close contact, but in each instance, those people were already in quarantine when they tested positive for the virus, so overall, the virus has been well contained.

We also had a young man who couldn’t wait to see his girlfriend. He broke into her quarantine location, and when he thought he was going to be caught, he jumped out a second-story window and broke his leg.  All for love!

Grenada has been designated as a “Low Risk” country for COVID-19, one of only a handful of countries worldwide. Here in Grenada, with our bubble being burst, people feel less safe and have become more vigilant.

St. George’s University (SGU) announced that their January semester will be held online. They will continue to monitor the situation before announcing if the April term will be held in person. This announcement has an enormous impact on Grenada.  SGU accounts for 25% of the country’s total revenue, and the lack of international Medical and Veterinary students trickles down into everything from buses to restaurants and grocery stores.  Since last spring, we haven’t had full grocery shelves, and some products disappeared completely when the students vacated the island in March.

As of November 20^th, we have eleven active cases of COVID-19, 30 cases have been cleared, and we’ve had no deaths.  These are impressive statistics, and everyone should be proud of our response to this deadly virus.  Unfortunately, we’ve lost over 100 Grenadians to COVID living elsewhere – primarily in the US and UK.

All eleven active cases, and the known contacts of people who breached quarantine, are asymptomatic, remain in quarantine, are awaiting testing and medical clearance. Because of the stringent protocols, we’ve stayed mostly safe.  The biggest problem has been people breaking quarantine.  One hundred seventeen people had to quarantine because three reckless individuals could not remain in place for a week.  What a sad and selfish situation.

The Ministry of Health has done a fabulous job protecting Grenadians and keeping everyone informed.  Frontline workers have kept the country running as close to normal as possible and were especially valued during our stringent lockdown earlier this year.  The Grenadian people also need to be commended for following protocols and making an enormous impact on keeping everyone safe.  We may grumble about mask-wearing in our heat and humidity, but people do it because it is the right thing to do to keep everyone safe.

Because of the increased numbers of imported cases reported in the last week, The Ministry of Health has altered our protocols. Travelers need to complete a Pure Grenada Travel Authorization Certificate, including a negative PCR test within 72 hours of flying that must be approved before arriving. (Travelers initially needed a negative PCR test seven days before travel, but so many people have tested positive after arriving in Grenada that the timeline has been tightened.)

 

 

 

 

 

The specifics of each case are detailed below.  When looking at the US and UK’s daily infection rates, it is astonishing that we have had so few new cases since opening our borders.

October 12^th – we recorded our first case in 3 months.  A returning national breached quarantine before being released, and because of this, 77 people had to be placed in quarantine to prevent community spread.

NOTE: This person was identified as Case 25 and was listed as the first new case in 3 months, but I could find nothing about Case 24.  This discrepancy may be from an early case where a man illegally fled the island before his test results were processed – he was positive.  He flew from Grenada to Canada and then onto the UK at the beginning of the outbreak before Grenada shut our borders.

October 17^th – The Ministry of Health announced Cases 26 and 27.  One person had been in close contact with the man who breached quarantine.  The second case was unrelated. The person also returned to Grenada via airplane, tested positive during quarantine, and remained in quarantine until cleared.

October 24^th – Another person returning to Grenada tested positive, Case 28, and went into quarantine.

November 2^nd – Case 29, a person returning to Grenada tested positive and quarantined.

November 4^th – A new arrival to Grenada became Case 30 and quarantined.  Other passengers on the same flight were closely watched, but no one else contracted the virus.

November 8^th – An American doctor and his wife who have a home in Grenada, broke their home quarantine, and visited four restaurants before their tests came back positive and became Case 31 and 32. As a result, another 40 people had to quarantine to prevent community spread and one restaurant had to shut down.

November 14^th – The 33^rd case was identified.  She was in close contact with the couple who breached their home quarantine and had been quarantined through contact tracing.  All 40 people near Cases 31 and 32 and are in quarantine will be retested shortly.

November 18^th – Three new cases announced – Case 34 arrived in Grenada from the USA, was PCR tested, and remains quarantined. Cases 35 and 36 arrived at the Carriacou Marina (a sister island to mainland Grenada) and are quarantining on their yacht with two others.

November 19^th – One new case, Case 37, arrived in Grenada from the USA, was PCR tested and remains quarantined.

November 20^th – Four new cases announced – Case 38 arrived in Grenada from the USA on November 15th, and has been quarantined since.  Cases 39 and 40 are the two other people who have been quarantined on the yacht off the coast of Carriacou with Cases 35 and 36. Case 41 is the son of Case 33, who was a close contact of Cases 31 and 32.

With continued vigilance and a bit of luck, Grenada will continue to be a low-risk country for COVID-19.  As Grenadians like to say – “For now, we are safe, please God.”