PAHO Affirms Dominica as Sole OECS Country Equipped for COVID19
The Hon Health Minister, Dr Irving Mcintyre, announced recently that Dominica is the only OECS country able to test for COVID19.
The Pan American Health Organisation confirmed to Vibes News that the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organisation and PAHO trained and equipped 29 laboratories throughout the region to carry out testing and diagnosis of COVID-19.
Those countries are 21 South American countries and 8 Caribbean islands among which Dominica is the only member of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States.
“These were Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
Additionally, French Guiana is able to test utilizing the protocol used by the Institut Pasteur, and the USA and Canada also test using their own protocols.”
OECS (Associate*) countries are :
Antigua and Barbuda
Commonwealth of Dominica
Grenada
Montserrat
The Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
St Vincent and The Grenadines
British Virgin Islands*
Anguilla*
Martinique*
Guadeloupe*
The Center for Disease Control in Atlanta is being used as the regional reference lab. The Caribbean Public Health Agency, CARPHA serves as Trinidad’s reference lab.