Residents who may need to be quarantined on the suspicion that they might have come into contact with a Covid-19-infected person will no longer be able to do so in the luxury of their homes.
Instead, they will spend that time – a minimum of 14 days – in a government-controlled facility, since the risk of community spread is too great when home quarantine is allowed, the most recent Cabinet notes stated.
The communique informed the public that the change in procedure was due to the fact that such persons have not been “vigorously” adhering to the home quarantine rules, “hence, the health emergency regulations also provide the legal basis for so acting”.
It also noted that Antiguans living in the Dominican Republic who wish to return home will first be compelled to undergo two weeks of quarantine within the Dominican Republic, as well as two weeks of quarantine after arriving in Antigua.
Meanwhile, there were no new cases of Covid-19 reported in the country up to Wednesday, leaving the national total of confirmed cases at 23. At that time there were four Covid-19 patients being treated in the Intensive Care Unit at Mount St John’s Medical Centre, two of whom were on ventilators.
Five of the most recently-tested patients had not yet received their results, it added.
To date, five frontline workers in Antigua and Barbuda have contracted the disease, however the nation is in a position to provide for all healthcare workers, the release said.
All citizens and residents are reminded to follow the social distancing rules, and to maintain vigorous hand-washing protocol.