THE HAGUE--Several variants of the SARS-COV-2 have been found in St. Maarten, stated the Netherlands Institute for Public Health and the Environment RIVM in this week’s Dutch Caribbean report. It concerns the California variant, the Brazilian variant and the New York variant.
“Surveillance into the circulation of SARS-COV-2 variants in St. Maarten so far shows one case of the California B.1.429 variant, one case of the Brazilian P.2 variant and two cases of the New York B.1.526 variant with E484K mutation,” the RIVM stated in its report dated March 1 that was released on Tuesday.
According to the RIVM, the number of new coronavirus COVID-19 cases in St. Maarten “keeps fluctuating.” The incidence in St. Maarten increased in week 8 (February 22-28) from 62 reported cases per 100,000 persons compared to 43 reported cases per 100,000 persons in the previous week, week 7 (February 15-21).
The RIVM reported that currently there were no persons admitted to the St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) with COVID-19. St. Maarten started vaccinations with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine on February 22 and up to March 1, 754 persons received the first dose of the vaccine.
Aruba has administered the highest number of vaccinations in the Dutch Caribbean: up to March 1, 6,005 persons received the Pfizer vaccine. The number of reported COVID-19 cases decreased in Aruba, and the incidence went down to 171 reports per 100,000 persons last week compared to 205 reports per 100,000 persons in the week before.
However, the number of hospital admissions and deaths increased. There are currently 29 COVID-19 patients at the Aruba Horacio Oduber Hospital, of which seven are in intensive care. The number of deaths now stands at 74, by far the highest number in the Dutch Caribbean.
In the surveillance into the circulation of variants of SARS-CoV-2 in Aruba, so far 14 cases of the British VOC B.1.1.7 variant were detected and three cases of the California B.1.429 variant. In Curaçao, two cases of the British VOC B.1.1.7 variant have been found thus far.
