The Pan American health organization (PAHO) begun preparing laboratories in the Caribbean region to perform early diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 (now covid-19) since 12th February by training virologists from Central America and the Caribbean (Cuba and the Dominican Republic).
The first workshop organized by PAHO took place in Mexico and others followed to update laboratories in Barbados, Haiti, Jamaica, Suriname, and Dominic. The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA)https://carpha.org/Who-We-Are/Member-States and the Institut Pasteur of French Guyana were ready to respond to the epidemic outbreak in the region
The first cases of coronavirus 2019 among the Caribbean Islands were reported in the Dominican Republic by the week starting the 2nd February (First EPI week 6) by the 20th March, the country had 72 confirmed cases and 2 deaths. Jamaica was the next country confirming cases just one week after, on 9th February and by the 20th March had 15 confirmed cases and 1 death. By the second week of March (first EPI week 11) another ten Caribbean islands were already reporting cases: Saint Lucia, Cuba, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and the oversea territories of Cayman Islands, Curacao, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Puerto Rico. The latest reporting the beginning of confirmed cases were the Bahamas, Barbados, Haiti and the oversea territories of Aruba, Monserrat and US-Virgin Islands (Map elaborated taking data from PAHO website accessed on 21st March)
