A local water company based in the north of Grenada has ceased operations amid a COVID-19 scare in the country.
The production facility located in a rural community on the island, shut down operations at 1pm Tuesday because at least one worker is among dozens quarantined after coming in contact with the 25th confirmed case of COVID-19.
Sources close to company management said the infected man visited the plant over the weekend and is said to be in an intimate relationship with the daughter of one of the plant workers.
Workers were told to stay home indefinitely and asked to get tested for COVID-19.
“We closed down as a precautionary measure and all the workers have to be tested,” one worker told THE NEW TODAY.
The Ministry of Health has been conducting extensive contact tracing, focused on St Patrick and St Andrew, the areas where an infected man is said to have been on the loose for three days.
According to reports he socialised in many places, attended a birthday party, travelled on buses and visited the water plant.
At least fifty workers are employed at the production plant.
The official word to the employees is that management is concerned that because the infected man mingled with people in many areas, workers may have been exposed to COVID-19.
The man, said to be in his thirties, is Grenada’s 25th confirmed case.
Monday Chief Medical Officer Dr Shawn Charles said multiple households in St Patrick and St Andrew have been quarantined and as of Tuesday at least thirty people were known to have come in contact with the patient.
The man had been asymptomatic, that is, showing no signs of infection.
The Ministry of Health said he had run away from the quarantine facility on Friday, day four and Tuesday Health Minister Nickolas Steele told reporters that the man said he left because he believed that he was COVID-19 free.
Minister Steele said his explanation was that he had been regularly tested in Canada where he lives and opted not to wait for the results of the second test that all incoming travellers must take before they can be allowed out of quarantine.
However, his test sample was taken on day four with results available three days later. This arrangement has shown gaps in Grenada’s protocols because people are being told they need to have at least a four-day booking at a quarantine facility as part of entry protocols while the entire process from arrival to clearance takes a minimum of six days. (The New Today Grenada)
