Today Thursday April 1, 2021 the Ministry of Health and Wellness received confirmation of 20 new cases of COVID-19 from the Ezra Long Laboratory. This is from a batch of 126 samples taken during the period March 29, 2021 to March 31, 2021. These samples were processed on March 31, 2021.

All of these individuals were seen at various community respiratory clinics where they were assessed and tested for COVID-19. In-keeping with the national COVID-19 testing protocol, they were each placed in home quarantine by healthcare practitioners while awaiting receipt of their test results. Arrangements have since been made to place these individuals in isolation. The contact tracing for these new cases is underway.

Confirmation was also received of the recovery of 17 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 bringing the total number of active cases in country to date to 122. Presently, one of the active cases is requiring critical care at the Respiratory Hospital. The new cases bring the total number of cases diagnosed in country to date to 4265.

As of yesterday March 31, 2021 a total of 22, 554 individuals have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Everyone interested in getting vaccinated are encouraged to pre- register ahead of time via the online platform https://hmi.govt.lc/ or at the Community Wellness Centre nearest to you.