Analysis of the Epidemiological Situation

• Since the emergence of COVID-19, a total of 234 cases have been confirmed in our territories, with 184 confirmed cases in Guadeloupe, 44 in Saint Martin, and 6 in Saint Barthélemy.

• Positivity rates have reached very low levels (below 2% since May 11), well below the 5% alert threshold despite a high testing rate (between 230 and 1,164 tests performed per 100,000 inhabitants depending on the territory; 360 per 100,000 inhabitants in France as a whole). Saint-Barthélemy has the highest testing rate after French Guiana.

• Incidence rates are also at low levels, well below the 10 per 100,000 inhabitants vigilance threshold, over the past 4 weeks (weeks 20–24 of 2020), ranging between 2 and 3 per 100,000 inhabitants depending on the territory.

• The rate of outpatient visits for acute respiratory infections (a portion of which is attributable to COVID-19) has been steadily decreasing or even zero for several weeks.

• Few or no visits to emergency departments for suspected COVID-19 have been reported for several weeks, depending on the region.

• Active surveillance of severe cases in the intensive care unit at the Guadeloupe University Hospital has identified the admission of four patients from French Guiana since June 18, 2020.

Surveillance data therefore confirm low-level circulation of the virus across all our territories. However, the resumption of air traffic and medical evacuations in support of French Guiana necessitate maintaining careful and responsive surveillance to prevent the risk of community or nosocomial transmission of the virus (secondary transmission from these imported cases) and the emergence of clusters that could spread within the Caribbean population.