First Results from Surge in St John COVID Testing……..

There were two positive COVID tests last week and the first positive test from community transmission.  As a result, some people on island have been a little on edge as their friends and relatives swarmed the health department to get tested, and patiently waited in quarantine for the results.

The first two rounds of results are in, and the results are fantastic so far:

• One June 22nd, the Health Department reported that 14 tests came back negative, and zero positive.
• On June 23rd, the Health Department reported another 28 tests came back negative!  That is a huge number considering only 112 people on St John have been tested in total.  Two results are TBD.

This essentially means that the contact tracing that was implemented in the aftermath of the positive tests last week have so far come back negative.  This is a hopeful sign that there was not significant community spread following the two positive tests.

It is likely that a significant number of people will continue to get tested this week.  It is quite possible/probable that new positive tests will still be found in the coming days and weeks.  But 42 negative tests and zero positive tests this week is a very positive sign that the Governor’s policies are working and that community spread is very limited.

Please continue to be vigilant on island about wearing your mask around other people.  Our testing numbers are very good but we are all in this together to keep it that way.

Here is a link to the previous COVID update.