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SITUATION

According to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) Situation Report No. 27 (issued on March 25, 2020), up to 29 countries in the Caribbean region have reported the importation of at least one confirmed case of COVID-19. The risk of further importation of cases to the Caribbean Region remains Very High. The aim for all countries now, is to stop transmission and prevent the spread of the virus. Based on the Draft CARPHA Health Sector Response Guidelines for COVID-19 circulated to Member States, most countries are encouraged to implement actions in keeping with the Initial or Targeted Action in the Response Phase.

SITUATION

According to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) Situation Report No. 24 (issued on March 18, 2020), in a statement on 11 March, the WHO declared the COVID-19 outbreak to be a pandemic. Since then, more than 16 countries in the Caribbean region have reported the importation of at least one confirmed case of COVID-19. The risk of further importation of cases to the Caribbean Region remains Very High. Overall, 91% of all cases reported globally so far are from just nine countries.

SITUATION
According to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) Situation Report No. 22 (issued on March 13, 2020), the WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared the COVID-19 viral outbreak as a pandemic in a statement on 11 March 2020. This declaration came as a result of the 13-fold increase in COVID-19 cases outside of China with a tripling of the number of affected countries within the past two weeks. This has caused deep concern of not only its rapid spread and severity but also the disturbing lack of action observed in some countries. WHO expects an increase in the number of cases, deaths and affected countries.

On Tuesday February 18, 2020, CDEMA and the Caribbean Agricultural Research & Development Institute (CARDI) signed the Regional Early Warning Systems Consortium (REWSC) Memorandum of Understanding. The signing took place at the CDEMA Coordinating Unit with Mr. Ronald Jackson, Executive Director, CDEMA and Mr. Barton Clarke, Executive Director, CARDI.

CDEMA welcomed the Hon. Member of Parliament Emmanuel Dubourg, Government of Canada, on his courtesy visit to the CDEMA Coordinating Unit facilities on Tuesday February 18, 2020. His visit focused on the value added, which the support from the Government of Canada has brought to the operations within the CDEMA System. Canada has been providing financial and technical support to CARICOM Member States through the CDEMA CU in areas of building resilience to disasters and emergencies in the region and capacity building of CDEMA Participating States. He was provided with a briefing on the ongoing support provided by the Government of Canada and a tour of the facilities of the CDEMA Coordinating Unit. The Hon. Dubourg is attending the 31st Intercessional Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), from 18-19 February 2020.

Bridgetown, Barbados, February 18th, 2020 (CDEMA) - The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) conducted its annual ‘Exercise Region Rap’ with its Participating States and Regional Response Mechanism (RRM) partners on Tuesday February 18, 2020.

The Exercise was dubbed a success with 14 Participating States and 16 regional and international partners taking part, including development partners, CARICOM institutions and UN Agencies. In an effort to integrate youth participation and promote their involvement in Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM), the exercise was executed with the support of student volunteers from the Queens College in Barbados.

Situation Overview:

According to the USGS, a 7.7 magnitude earthquake occurred at approximately 15:10 (AST) on January 28, 2020. The earthquake which occured at a depth of 10km was located north-north-west of Hanover, Jamaica and south of Cuba resulted from a strike-slip fault on the plate boundary between the North America and Caribbean tectonic plates.

Bridgetown, Barbados, January 24th, 2020 – In efforts to improve collaboration and coordination of information and data management among ministries and agencies before, during and after a disaster event, members of the national disaster management system in Barbados and given its role as a sub-regional focal point for the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) benefited from a data and information management training workshop, which was held on January 22-23, 2020.

  1. CDEMA Information Note #1 - Epidemiology Update Novel Coronavirus as of 6:00PM (AST) on January 24th, 2020
  2. CDEMA Recognises UWI Seismic Research Centre Scientist
  3. Spatial Innovision donates drone to CDEMA for hurricane response
  4. Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency & Caribbean Center for Disaster Medicine establish partnership to improve region’s health care preparedness
CDEMA Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency. Resilience Way, Lower Estate, St. Michael Tel: (246) 434-4880, Fax: (246) 271-3660
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