WILLEMSTAD - The record number of corona infections detected this week in Curaçao has nothing to do with tourism, says epidemiologist Dr. Izzy Gerstenbluth.
“There is an ongoing discussion about tourists who would bring in the virus. This is not the case. The virus is transmitted among our own population, not among tourists. The import cases are almost zero or are already in quarantine,” he said at a press conference.
EXISTING INFECTIONS
On Wednesday, 51 new infections were added to the total on the island, the highest number in one day since the coronavirus outbreak. Only one of those cases concerns someone who does not live on the island and 19 cases are linked to existing infections.
Contact tracing is being conducted into the other infections. It is also being investigated whether the high number of infections can be linked to a specific meeting that may have been held. Curaçao has had a curfew since September 14 and dance and music activities have also been prohibited since August.
Color code unchanged for the time being
Also yesterday, 33 new infections were registered. “The positivity rate fluctuates between 15 and 20 percent,” says Gerstenbluth. “Wednesday's high number was 20 percent. So we stay within the margin. Even though we are within the margin, the infections must be taken seriously.” There are now 314 people on the island infected with the corona virus, eight of them are in hospital.
The number of bookings to Curaçao and Bonaire increased sharply after the press conference on November 3 at which Prime Minister Rutte said that the Caribbean parts of the Kingdom are not covered by the government's call not to travel abroad until mid-January.
According to a spokesperson for the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, those holidays can continue as usual for the time being, because “changing the color code of the travel advice is not an issue for the time being. There are constant contacts between the Netherlands and Curaçao and we will first wait for the source and contact investigation.”
