PARAMARIBO, Suriname (CMC) — Suriname has recorded more than 1,300 cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) since the first case was detected on March 13, health authorities have confirmed. There have been 23 deaths.
They said that the Dutch-speaking Caribbean Community (Caricom) country had 71 new cases on Friday, the third time that more than 70 new cases have been reported in a single day, following the 76 recorded on June 27 and the 79 on July 16.
But Director of Public Health Amar Ramadhin, speaking at a news conference, has appealed for “calm” seeking to assure the country that “for now, the situation is still under control”.
“Let’s take a positive look too. Of the total number of people, 62.5 per cent of the cases were declared cured. That gives some peace and tranquillity. Let’s focus on that. We try to control the rest with measures to get,” he said, noting that the new measures are expected to be announced by President Chandrikapersad Santokhi this weekend.
The authorities have said that Suriname has 1,305 positive cases of the virus, while 804 persons have recovered. There are now 478 active cases with two people being treated in the intensive care department. There are 338 people in quarantine.
“What we should focus on is that when people are tested positive they are isolated as soon as possible and the contact tracing process gets underway as quickly as possible, so we know who they have been in contact with and can quarantine those people.
“Let’s rather look at the detection path that needs to be done very well,” Ramadhin said.
