 Good evening, fellow St. Lucians. I know the past few weeks have been filled with fear and anxiety for many of you, but I start by asking everyone to pause and take a deep breath, just for a moment. As I confirmed, as confirmed by the Ministry of Health, over the past few days, St. Lucia now has two imported cases of COVID-19, also known as coronavirus. Our team at the Ministry of Health has been hard at work doing testing, contact tracing, and quarantine where necessary. Since the start of the spread of the virus in China, the nation led by the Ministry of Health and Wellness has been taking steps to prepare for and respond for the likelihood of the virus being introduced into our country. Due to the novelty of the COVID-19 virus, St. Lucia continues to be guided by the advice and protocols of the World Health Organization and other international agencies. We also continue to have regular dialogue with our CARICOM colleagues in order to develop a harmonized strategy for the region. From the start of the outbreak, the Ministry of Health officials, the Minister of Health, the Chief Medical Officer, and I have been in constant engagement with representatives from the Pan-American Health Organization, CARICOM, OECS, and CARFA. As the virus started to spread to the Caribbean, meetings with various agencies and stakeholders have been held to share information, to allay concerns and to obtain feedback. To date, we've had meetings and consultations with all key stakeholders, including public and private sector agencies, civil society, and unions. The following specific measures have been initiated. As early as January 31st, 2020, we activated the National Health Security Committee to develop the National Response Plan. We undertook assessment of the capacities at the ports and health facilities and other relevant facilities to determine the capacity to respond and identify resource gaps. We undertook training and procurement of resources. Since February 4th of 2020, St. Lucia imposed its first travel restriction on persons traveling from China. Three weeks later, extended to include Japan, Republic of Korea, Italy, and Singapore. The Ministry of Health through the Bureau of Health Education commenced a public awareness and education campaign. On the economic front, I've had day and night sessions with the finance team on the economic impact and efforts we can make to cushion the blow. We've rescheduled the annual budget exercise as we continue to monitor developments worldwide and we continue to dialogue with the Central Bank, the World Bank, the CDB, and the IMF. The virus continues to have untold economic impact globally and in particular St. Lucia. As unfortunate, we've received recent indication of the impending closure of three major hotels. The impact of the coronavirus should be treated as an imminent disaster, like a hurricane. Therefore, on February 28th, 2020, I activated the National Emergency Management Advisory Committee, NEMAC, which is the Implementing Agency in Times of National Disaster. Since the crisis began, there has been remarkable cooperation and collaboration at all levels of the society. I am thankful to the Leader of the Opposition and the members of both Houses of Parliament for their participation and support in our efforts. Our doctors, nurses, and other health personnel, Air and Sea ports personnel, firemen and women, the police have all been going beyond the call of duty. They work longer hours than usual, sacrificing time away from family and loved ones. I have met many of them in recent days, and my government remains committed to ensure that we do everything to support, protect, and all resources to protect our frontline professionals. We all deserve our support, cooperation, and commendation. I have the ultimate confidence in our health team, led by Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Sharon Belmar George, who has been liaising with me and my cabinet at every turn. I also wish to congratulate the Minister of Health, Senator Mary Isaac, for her sterling leadership. I take this opportunity to commend her and her staff on their dedication, commitment, and competence. Together, we have been coordinating and building the medical and health infrastructure that we anticipate will be required. As of today, 16th of March 2020, we have assessed the information received and arrived at the following specific immediate decisions to protect the health and security of our nation. As you know, all schools are to remain closed, and all related school activities are suspended until further notice. This is the first step in social distancing protocol, and should not be treated as a regular school vacation. The Ministry of Education is collaborating with our telecommunications service providers, and will shortly advise of alternative means of delivering our educational instructions to the students. Mass crowd events for more than 50 persons is being discouraged. As a first step, the Jazz Festival has been cancelled, and a meeting with the stakeholders of the cultural and creative industries will be held tomorrow to discuss the way forward for Carnival and other events. A further announcement on the implementation of this measure across all sectors will be made. We have suspended all cruise ship calls from Monday, March 16th, for the next 30 days. All yachting and pleasure craft calls into St. Lucia will be suspended with immediate effect. Effective March 17th 2020, the travel restriction will be further expanded to mainland France, Germany, Spain, Iran, and the United Kingdom. We've also strengthened our protocols for screening visitors arriving at both the air and seaports. As of March 16th 2020, the Ministry of Health activated three respiratory clinics at the Viewfort Wellness Center, the Denry Hospital, and the Grosally Poly Clinic. An additional two clinics will be activated in the coming days to be located at the LeClaire Wellness Center and the Soufer Hospital. These clinics are intended to take the care of persons who have respiratory infections. A hotline will be operational by the end of this week, using 311 number, where citizens will be able to get information on the COVID-19. Mobile telephones will be made available from this week to physicians to provide medical advice via telephone consultation to persons with medical concerns with COVID-19. Further information will be provided during the course of this week. The Governor of St. Lucia has reached out to friendly governments such as Taiwan, Cuba, and India to provide technical support as we strengthen our ability to manage this virus. I am pleased to note that the testing kits for the coronavirus have arrived on the island and staff are currently undertaking training with a testing lab to be set up later this week. This will substantially reduce our waiting time for results from 24 hours to approximately two to four hours. There is no doubt that confronting this virus will test our resources, medical and economic, and will also have a psychological effect. We are now heading to a higher alert levels and we do begin to seek as we do begin to seek cases in the community. We will have to review our decisions and move to more stringent measures. Dealing with these challenges, the virus will pose, will require constant review, adjustments, and change. I will be providing regular updates to the nation as we go along. It is easy in uncertain times to fall prey to scaremongering. Be assured that the information disseminated by the Ministry of Health will continue to be regular and updated based on the World Health Organization and CARFA guidelines. Even in the midst of our fears, we cannot lose our compassion. We must act sensibly and with due attention to our neighbors and to be our neighbor's keeper. If this virus has taught us anything else, it has taught about the obligation we have to care and protect each other. It is in doing so that we shall overcome any threat that COVID-19 could potentially pose to us as a country. As a prayerful nation, we continue to lift our voices and bend our heads in prayer. In the coming days, we will announce a national day of prayer to call upon God's mercy. Taken into consideration the protocol and social distancing, it will not be a physical gathering, but we will ask for everyone's participation. May God bless you all and keep you safe, and may God continue to bless our St. Lucia.