Epidemiologist Izzy Gerstenbluth
WILLEMSTAD--The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment RIVM informed Curaçao on Thursday that one infection with the British variant of coronavirus was detected on the island.
Curaçao had sent several tests. It now appears that there is one British variant among the various samples from between January 17 and 26.
It turns out to be a resident who did not travel in the past period. However, he had been in contact with someone who recently came from the Netherlands and tested positive for COVID-19.
After it was recently announced that the British variant had been registered in Aruba, Curaçao sent many tests to the RIVM. St. Maarten has also done that, but no new variants have yet been detected among those.
The Epidemiological Team of Curaçao announced that it will continue to conduct further research and also send more tests to the Netherlands to be sure whether there are more infections with the British variant on the island.
Curaçao currently has few active cases. However, the measures in force, including a curfew between 11pm and 4:30am were extended this week.
The latter was a direct result of the discovery of the British variant in Aruba. Stricter measures were also immediately imposed for travel between the two islands.
