BREAKING: All persons coming to SVG from All countries will be quarantined for 14 days

By Demion McTair. Updated 10:33 a.m., Friday, 3 April 2020, Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4)

Kingstown (ON SVG) – Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves announced on Friday that all persons coming into St. Vincent from all countries will be required to go under quarantine for 14 days.

Dr. Gonsalves said on the National Broadcasting Corporation – NBC Radio, that the decision is due to the third confirmed Covid-19 case reported this morning, where the victim is said to have come through Barbados.

“As a consequence of the fact that that person came through Barbados, as of today, all persons who enter St. Vincent and the Grenadines would be required to go under a system of quarantine” – Dr. Gonsalves said.

Gonsalves said “In practical terms, not many people will be coming to St. Vincent” since most flights into the country are no longer operational.

The US, the UK and Canada were on the list of countries from which travelers were subject to voluntary quarantine restrictions and Japan and Singapore were among those removed from the list. As of today, however, all travelers to St. Vincent will be subject to quarantine – Gonsalves said

In response to calls for the country’s borders to be closed, The Prime Minister said “The borders are for all practical reasons closed”.

Dr. Gonsalves said St. Vincent and the Grenadines was the first country in the region to have put people under voluntary quarantine “when we put 14 Chinese under quarantine”. They were among the first group of people tested, the Prime Minister said.

There have been 465 persons under quarantine as of April 2nd. These persons are from a pool of person who came in on flights and those from contact tracing.