 As of April 13, 2020, the World Health Organization reported a total of 1,773,084 confirmed cases of COVID-19 globally, with 111,652 deaths. There are now 610,742 confirmed cases in the region of the Americas. As of April 14, 2020, St. Lucia has a total of 15 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Follow-up tests were also conducted on the confirmed cases in care and to date, a total of 11 of the confirmed 15 COVID-19 patients have recovered and have been discharged from the hospital. Presently, there are 25 persons in quarantine and 20 in isolation. Quarantine is used to separate and to restrict the movement of persons who are well and may have been exposed to a communicable disease such as COVID-19. This quarantine period allows for monitoring of contacts who develop signs and symptoms over the incubation period of the particular disease. We use the designated quarantine facilities for persons who travel into St. Lucia from areas of high risk and persons who are in contact with any positive cases who do not have signs and symptoms. There are certain cases where an assessment is done by the Ministry of Health and that individual may require home quarantine. One example is someone who is confined to the bed and is not able to function dependently. Isolation is used to separate known sick persons from those who have a communicable disease such as COVID-19 from others who are healthy. Isolation restricts the movement of sick persons to help stop the spread of infection. In St. Lucia, our positive COVID-19 cases are kept in isolation. Isolation is also done for persons who have flu-like symptoms who are in contact with positive cases and also for patients who have not yet been confirmed as COVID-19 cases. These individuals are also kept in isolation until their results are received. So at any one point, the number of patients who are kept in isolation would be higher than the number of persons that we have as positive for COVID-19. We keep our positive COVID-19 cases in isolation. We also keep contacts who have symptoms in isolation and we also keep persons who may have access care through the respiratory hospital and are awaiting their test results. Today, Tuesday, April 14, 2020, St. Lucia continues on a 10-hour curfew from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. daily. Some of the national protocols which apply to this include remain at home, leaving only for food or medical purposes, avoid mass crowd events and social gatherings, practice physical distancing and go to personal hygiene. The public is also advised against going to public places with flu-like symptoms, including fever, coughing and sneezing. When visiting the supermarket or public places, refrain from touching items unless you intend to purchase them. Essential service workers and the elderly are granted time for grocery shopping to facilitate their timely return to their posts and homes respectively. The public is asked to exhibit patience while these segments of our population are being served. Although hardware stores are open in an effort to facilitate household emergencies and increase water storage capacity, the public is reminded that we are still on national scale down. Only leave your house for essential goods. Observe the rules of physical distancing. St. Lucia is still at a very critical position in the response to the national COVID-19 threat. We note that there are many people out and some persons are not adhering to the rules of physical distancing. We also note that persons have come out without the use of their masks. One of the recommendations include the use of a face mask or scarf when going to public places such as the supermarkets and stores. The face mask or scarf may be used for source control by reducing potential exposure risk from infected persons during the pre-symptomatic period. For a face mask to be effective in reducing infection, they must be used properly. Some basic guidelines include ensure that the mask is clean before its use. Wash your hands with soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizer before touching the mask. The mask should be held by the ties or the loops only. The coverings should be fit and they should be fit tightly but comfortably to allow for breathing without restrictions. Do not touch your eyes, your nose or your mouth when the mask is on your face and when removing the mask. Clough masks should be washed daily after use. Do not place the mask on the forehead or below the chin. Do not remove the masks to talk and to quarrel. Persons should avoid using their mobile phones while wearing a mask. Do not use medical supply masks such as surgical and N95 masks which must be reserved for healthcare workers, first responders and people who are known to be sick. The public should use the handmade cloth masks. Continue to advise the public to focus on the maintenance of standard recommendations to prevent the spread of infection. These include regular hand washing with soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizer where soap and water is not available. To cover your mouth and nose with disposable tissues when coughing and sneezing. Also to avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing. The Ministry of Health and Wellness will continue providing you with regular updates.