 As of June 29, 2020, the World Health Organization reported a total of 10,021,401 confirmed cases of COVID-19 globally with 499,913 deaths. Within the region of the Americas, there was a total of 5,042,486 cases. St. Lucia has recorded a total of 19 confirmed cases of COVID-19. All of those cases have fully recovered. A total of 1,667 tests have been carried out to date. Today marks six months since the reporting of the first case of COVID-19 to the World Health Organization. Since then, we have witnessed that spread of the virus across the globe, evidence of how closely interconnected we are despite our geographical boundaries. This reinforces our reminders from the Ministry of Health that despite our last case of COVID-19 being recorded on June 4, the continued spread of COVID-19 globally justifies our need for continued vigilance and precaution locally. Added to this, the single highest global record of new cases was recorded yesterday by the World Health Organization. The threat of the COVID-19 epidemic remains real under public health priority to every nation, including ours. In March 2020, the public health team of the Ministry of Health and Wellness estimated the region would be managing COVID-19 for the next two years. The director of PAHO, Dr. Carissa Etienne on June 27, 2020, advised the Caribbean to prepare to manage COVID-19 for the next two years. Public health protocols have been recommended for every sector as we implement the phased reopening of the economy. These measures ensure physical distancing, infection prevention and control, and source control. We understand the inconvenience they pose on everyone, but we must remain focused on the aim to reduce and prevent the transmission of COVID-19 at all levels. The Ministry of Health and Wellness, we congratulate the Ministry of Education for its commitment and dedicated effort at reopening the sector while making priority to protection and health and the safety of all of its stakeholders. The Ministry of Education successfully reopened school for specific groups of students, which included the grade 6 students and the successful completion of the common entrance exams. The reports from the environmental health officers and the public health officers on the measures implemented by the various schools to facilitate the phased reopening have been very positive. The Ministry of Health and Wellness, we will continue collaborating with the Ministry of Education as we move forward. Although at this point, our last community case was over two months ago, and we continue to note negative results on testing. The protocols remain important as we continue to move forward. As we move into phases of higher risk, we anticipate the introduction of cases with both returning nationals and tourist arrivals. The maintenance of these protocols will allow the country to continue functioning while we manage in country cases without the continuous shutdowns. These protocols are in place to protect the consumer, the workers and the owners of establishments. The Ministry of Health and Wellness, we encourage all sectors to continue working with us as we continue managing COVID-19. At this stage, practically all sectors have reopened, with the exception of mass crowd events. We note that with time, there is a tendency for persons to go back to old and familiar behaviors, and as such, there has been an apparent lessening and adherence to the public health measures by some members of the public. As social activity has increased and the impending reopening of St. Lucia to commercial travel, the public is reminded to continue adhering to the recommended measures that we have put forward.