The Tribune

By TANYA SMITH-CARTWRIGHT

tsmith-cartwright@tribunemedia.net

AFTER two residents of Cat Island tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, island administrator Neil Campbell said those who came in contact with them on the island are cooperating and making contact tracing easy for authorities there.

“So far everybody that I know of, that were advised, were very cooperative,” Mr Campbell advised. “These are some persons they would have been in contact with. I have no other information other than the fact that we have the two cases confirmed. They are now in New Providence. We would have put together our contact tracing list and we started to contact persons as of yesterday.”

Mr Campbell commended the Ministry of Health’s COVID-19 Surveillance Unit and COVID-19 Task Force for assisting the authorities on Cat Island in dealing with the two positive cases, which were the first for the island.

“There’s no new update other than the fact that we initiated our protocols and the Ministry of Health is now dealing with it. I think once you are open and honest in saying where you were at and once you would have made that public notice and people are aware, when you start calling them in reference to contact tracing and persons see that you are actually following the protocols then you can stave off any further spread,” he said.

Yesterday, Rollezz Villas Beach Resort owner Carl Rolle said he has no doubt the island will rebound swiftly, despite the two confirmed cases.

“We are not aware of any additional cases here in Cat Island besides the two,” Mr Rolle said. “Like anything it is a negative to have in an emerging market like ours, because people want to go to smaller hotels, boutique hotels to have that specialised care. It is kind of a bummer for us to hear about these cases here on Cat Island, because we were really priding ourselves that we have exceeded the COVID-19 mandate by the Ministry of Health. We wanted to do all we can and more so that it doesn’t come here. In any respect, I think it might slow down, but I think Cat Island, especially Rollezz, will rebound and recover from this little mishap.”

As for Rollezz Resort, Mr Rolle said the boutique resort is ready for tourists and taking the necessary precautions with temperature scanners, a non-negotiable mask policy, plexiglass signage and lots of sanitising.

“Here at Rollezz Resort we have our temperature scanner,” Mr Rolle said. “We are taking temperatures of everyone who comes to the resort. We were going out of our way to make sure that everyone that comes to Rollezz are wearing masks, we did everything that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Ministry of Health recommended.

“We were going through the whole nine yards. Even putting up our plexiglass signage, sanitising. We were doing all those things and more. We wanted to keep Cat Island pure. Unfortunately, that has not happened, but anyone that has been to Rollezz, knows the care and attention that we demand and we will pay (to details).”