TCI COVID community cases surge in TCI; Guest positives drop

By Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#TurksandCaicos, January 19, 2022 – Seventy-two per cent of the positive Covid-19 patients in the Turks and Caicos islands are TCI residents. The information was revealed in a Cabinet meeting held on January 9th, said Governor Nigel Dakin in a Facebook post.

This is a stark turnaround from late December when 63 per cent of cases recorded were from visitors to the island. Up to ten days ago, 22 per cent of cases were logged as visitor positives.

At least 6 per cent of the cases have been labelled unknown.

Governor Dakin said that Cabinet members had agreed that urgent next steps needed to be taken to reduce the impact on schools and government services, as the strong shift in where positives for Covid-19 were being detected pointed to heavy community transmission.

The Governor did not say what these steps were but promised more information in the coming weeks.

A temporary restriction on unvaccinated persons entering bars discotheques, restaurants, religious events and funerals without a negative COVID-19 test no more than a day old will come into effect on Friday the 21st of January; pushed back from its intended start date of January 14.