VI 'onslaught of COVID-19 cases' still possible- Dr Heskith A. Vanterpool
Dr Vanterpool was at the time speaking on the Monday, March 30, 2020, special edition of the 'Honestly Speaking' radio show with moderator Claude O. Skelton-Cline.
"At this time, the BVI is under a great deal of tension, anxiety and while we prepare for a possible onslaught of cases, we are trusting and praying that this may not be the case, but I think we can't be foolish because we are seeing it all around us and we are human beings like everybody else as well," he said.
No evidence of Community Spread yet- Dr Vanterpool
On Monday afternoon, the Territory confirmed its third case of COVID-19, bringing the total to three since the first two cases of COVID-19 were confirmed on March 25, 2020. All of the cases were imported.
At 8:00pm Friday, March 27, 2020, the Territory began a complete 6-day lockdown which, according to Premier and Minister of Finance, Hon Andrew A. Fahie (R1), was to make sure health authorities get to do their work and ensure the safety of the Territory while containing the spread of the virus.
According to Dr Vanterpool, that decision may have put the VI in a very advantageous position regarding containing the spread of the virus at the community level.
Minister of Health and Social Development, Hon Carvin Malone (AL) said the latest case had a travel history to a country where there is community spread. “He is currently in quarantine and only had mild symptoms. His contacts are also quarantined and are asymptomatic, which means they have no symptoms,” the minister said.
VI ahead of curve with response measures
"It appears that we may have been just ahead of the curve in locking down, up to this point we don't have evidence of community spread... and three cases that we have, have also been mild," Dr Vanterpool said.
According to the Medical Doctor, about 80% of the coronavirus cases tend to be mild and with the infection, about 30% of those infected are asymptomatic, meaning, showing no signs of symptoms and often unaware that they have been exposed.
He said in other parts of the world the pandemic is playing out big, "20% of patients end up having to go to doctors and end up in the hospital and of that percentage, a smaller percentage will be admitted to the medical wards."
Dr Vanterpool noted, some will end up in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and an even smaller percentage will get extremely sick and end up on ventilators, "the unfortunate thing is by the time somebody gets on a ventilator, it seems that less than 50% of those people survive."
31 Responses to “VI 'onslaught of COVID-19 cases' still possible- Dr Heskith A. Vanterpool”
what is of paramount importance is, keeping yourself , your family protected ...stripes.....
Each district gets a day and time period to get what they need.