BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (5 March. 2020) Having raised the risk level of coronavirus (COVID-19) to the Caribbean from low to moderate to high, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) yesterday encouraged regional tourism leaders to be ready to respond to possible importation of cases and local transmission.

At the same time, the health agency assured ministers and directors of tourism and other senior tourism officials, that while there have been no cases of local transmission the two cases reported in St. Martin and one in the Dominican Republic were all imported it was working closely with member countries and Caribbean coordinating partners such as the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) on mechanisms to prevent further transmission from any possible imported cases.

The assurance came at COVID-19 information session for member governments coordinated by the CTO and facilitated by CARPHA. Yesterdays session was part of the CTOs programme of full engagement in the regional response to the COVID-19 outbreak, in collaboration with CARPHA, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association and the Global Tourism Resilience Centre.

The CTOs web site, http://www.onecaribbean.org provides updated information from member countries and links to the CARPHA site (www.carpha.org) which is monitoring the virus and providing regular, reliable updates.

The organisation is also utilising a range of sources to track the global and reported regional impact of the virus, which has affected 93,090 people in 76 countries (80,422 in China alone), according to the latest World Health Organization figures. In the meantime, travellers are advised to:

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Caribbean Health Agency Raises Virus Threat Level to High - The St. Kitts-Nevis Observer