VI CONSORTIUM
The V.I. Dept. of Health reported Thursday morning 290 active Covid-19 cases in the U.S. Virgin Islands, a clear indication that the Delta variant has spread throughout the islands as Governor Albert Bryan and local health officials have said.
According to D.O.H., St. Thomas represented the majority of infections at 190, followed by St. Croix with 96, and St. John with four. Method of transmission remained under investigation for most of the cases (43 on St. Thomas and 9 on St. Croix), while the majority of the other infections were either spread through community transmission or close contact, according to the health department.
The growing number of cases have led the administration to rethink its lax strategy to enforcing Covid-19 rules for a tougher approach, where establishments are cited or shut down for flouting protocols, and the Covid Task Force takes a more proactive role in enforcing other restrictions. Mr. Bryan also delayed the reopening of in-person learning until further notice, citing the wild spread of the Delta variant.
And the administration has updated a policy for cruise ship travelers that requires all persons over age of 12 to be vaccinated before setting foot in the USVI. The change in policy has circulated on mainland news outlets, and V.I. Port Authority Executive Director, Carlton Dowe, shared more details with the Consortium Thursday morning.
Mr. Dowe, who revealed that Royal Caribbean executives were in the territory as of Thursday for meetings, described the changes as fluid to accommodate an ever-changing pandemic, where officials have to adapt as new developments — in this case the emergence of the Delta variant — present themselves.
Mr. Dowe said agreements were being put in place relative to the new policy. “This virus continues to move,” he said. “In other words we have to make adjustments based on what’s happening out there.” The V.I. Port Authority controls all the territory’s ports except for the West Indian Company, known as WICO.
He said the policy change would not affect the cruise ship schedule for the USVI. According to Jayne Halcomb, Royal Caribbean’s director of destination development for the Caribbean and the Americas, approximately 213,000 cruise ship passengers — 48,000 for St. Croix and 165,000 for St. Thomas — were scheduled to arrive in the territory in 2021, which is estimated to generate $40 million in revenue.
“These are fluid discussions. There’s no issue, fight or push back. We’ve been discussing several options and we’re saying that the governor has been telling everyone in the territory to get vaccinated, so how you’re going to tell these folks coming in on the cruise ships they don’t have to be,” Mr. Dowe said, making a case for the administration’s latest policy tweak.
The meetings being held today were planned prior to the change, which Mr. Dowe said took effect in recent days. However, those changes are expected to take up a great portion of the discussions.
On Monday, Mr. Bryan spoke in grave terms about the territory’s worsening Covid situation. “The sobering reality is that this is as serious a situation, dire even as our healthcare system has ever faced,” he said. “We are at a serious turning point, Virgin Islanders. And this debate about whether to take the vaccine is not worth your health, and it’s not worth your safety.”
Days later, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Americans against traveling to the U.S. Virgin Islands unless fully vaccinated, activating its “very high” danger alert as Covid-19 cases surge in the USVI — a result of the Delta variant’s spread in the U.S. territory.