 The Ministry of Health, Wellness and Early Affairs continues to stare the national response mechanism to COVID-19. Minister Hon. Moses Jabatis has announced an extension of the protocols, commencing Wednesday, September 22, 2021. More on that in a moment. First, a look at the overall COVID-19 situation. The ministry has noted a slight decrease in the transmission rate. The daily infection rate for the past week was 47.9 per 100,000 per day and an average of 86.9 cases per day. The Ministry of Health on Tuesday, 21 September reported the loss of 18 lives for the period September 14 to 19, 2021. Officials say one of the deaths is COVID-19 belated and 17 are COVID-19 deaths. All of the individuals were unvaccinated and the majority are from castries and viewfort. 10 were male and 8 were female. Dr. Sean Belmar George says such widespread deaths from COVID-19 are avoidable if persons get vaccinated. In relation to this new wave, 5,077 persons were positive. 51% in the age group, 25 to 49 years, 58% of the cases are female. The majority of the cases are from castries, viewfort and Babano. Based on contact tracing data, the majority of the cases diagnosed are related to workplaces and spread between families. From the review of the epidemiological curve, we are at a plateau at this point and we note reduced transmission rate. To date from the positive cases diagnosed in country, less than 2% have been fully vaccinated. 98% of the COVID-19 deaths and COVID-19 related deaths at the respiratory hospital were unvaccinated. The 2% of the deaths who were fully vaccinated had other serious underlying health conditions which contributed to their demise. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sharon Belmar George.