PHILIPSBURG--Collective Prevention Services (CPS) says that as St. Maarten transitions to endemic COVID-19 transmission, a number of public health changes are underway.
CPS noted that Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labor VSA Omar Ottley had relaxed the mask mandate as of March 15. This means that masks are not legally required in any situation in St. Maarten, but business owners can choose to implement their own mask policy.
CPS will no longer be managing individual cases of COVID-19 and will not be conducting source and contact tracing after March 25. CPS will no longer issue quarantine or isolation letters.
COVID-19-positive individuals will not need to isolate, but may be advised to stay at home by their general practitioner (house doctor). Any individual who tests positive for COVID-19 will need to follow the advice of their house doctor, who will advise on how many sick days are required. For extended sick leave, persons are asked to contact their insurance provider as they would for any other illness.
Screening of individuals, particularly employees, will be up to the discretion of the employer, but this must be reasonable and should not infringe on the rights of employees. CPS only recommends COVID-19 screening in closed, high-risk settings such as hospitals, elderly care homes and prisons.
CPS will no longer conduct community testing after April 29. Individuals will not be able to access free testing at the Community Help Desk in Hope Estate. Any individual who would like a COVID-19 test will need to visit their house doctor and/or a laboratory, as they would for any other illness.
If persons have general questions about COVID-19, they are advised to call 914.
“The transition to accepting the presence of COVID-19 may be socially difficult, but Ministry VSA deems the relative risk to the population to be significantly lower than when COVID-19 first emerged. Vaccination is effective and widely available, and the most recent variant (Omicron) is significantly less likely to cause hospitalisation and death, particularly for the vaccinated,” said CPS.
CPS and the VSA Ministry will continue to monitor COVID-19 transmission and will inform the community of any updates.
