With confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the British Virgin Islands and St Kitts and Nevis there remains no single territory unaffected by the deadly pandemic.

BVI Premier Andrew Fahie, at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon (March 25), said the territory’s first two imported cases were that of a 56-year-old male resident with a recent travel history from Europe. He exhibited mild symptoms and arrived in Tortola last Sunday, March 15.

The other case is a 32-year-old male resident,

with a recent travel history from New York. According to Premier Fahie, the patient

reportedly contracted the disease on Sunday, March 8 – later arriving in the

territory on Tuesday, March 10.

Both cases remain under strict quarantine protocols at home.

“The BVI has now officially confirmed its first imported cases of COVID-19.  Both cases are unrelated. The samples were collected and sent to the Caribbean Public Health Agency where laboratory tests confirmed positive results today,” Fahie said in an address to the nation.

In St Kitts and Nevis, the federation’s

Minister of Health Wendy Phipps said the republic’s first two cases are Kittian

nationals.

The patients are a 56-year-old woman and a 21-year-old male with recent travel histories from New York.

Both patients arrived in St Kitts last Wednesday, March 18. They have been under strict quarantine protocol upon their return to the country and were tested last Friday, March 20.

Minister Phipps indicated that the results

returned on Tuesday night, March 24. Both patients and their families have been

notified.

As a result, all schools across the twin-island republic have been ordered closed with immediate effect.

From Canada in the north to Argentina in the south, there remains no single country in the entire Americas unaffected by the coronavirus pandemic.