WILLEMSTAD - Yesterday, a group of 81 nurses and healthcare professionals arrived in Curaçao. They come from the United States and their travel and accommodation are paid for by the Dutch government. The health care employees will help hospitals in Curaçao in the event of a major increase in coronavirus.

According to Dr. Izzy Gerstenbluth one of them tested positive for the COVID-19 virus at the beginning of this month. This person was tested again yesterday before traveling to Curaçao and the result again was positive which means that the person, even though he or she was not showing the symptoms still was infected.

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The doctor indicated that against the agreement, “a mistake”, the person traveled to Curaçao. Gerstenbluth found out about this last night. The doctor says in his briefing that this is a case of bad luck, it was not the intention. “An infected person arrived here on the island and that is why we have the 14-day quarantine rule.”

The doctor continued explaining what the arrival of this infected person could mean. “We know that if you are infected and maybe the symptoms are not felt anymore, but if you are going to test this person, the results could be positive for a long time. This does not mean that you could infect other people.” The doctor says that in the case of this person, he cannot be sure of this. Therefore, the person must remain in isolation and that is what is happening now. And this person must be retested.

“Nevertheless if this person remains in the hotel, he or she could infect other people and that is why last night we contacted the government of the Netherlands, because this is a contract between the Netherland and the American company, to discuss this problem.”

Gerstenbluth says that most probably what will happen is that this person will be sent back to the U.S. The other health care employees will remain in quarantine for 14 days. “They cannot go out; we will monitor them just like we do with all other travel-related quarantines.”

The doctor also indicated that they would continue to monitor if this health care worker has infected other persons that came in contact with her/her. Based on this they will know what to do next.