Summary

• Since the emergence of COVID-19, a total of 222 cases have been confirmed in our territories, with 174 confirmed cases in Guadeloupe, 42 in Saint Martin, and 6 in Saint Barthélemy.

• The first cases appeared in late February in Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy and in early March in Guadeloupe. The epidemic peaked in the weeks following the widespread lockdown (March 16) during week 12 of 2020 (March 16–22) in Guadeloupe and during week 13 of 2020 (March 23–29) in Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy.

• The lockdown was followed by a gradual decline in healthcare utilization in the weeks that followed, first in outpatient care starting in week 13 of 2020, then in hospitals (emergency visits and hospitalizations) starting in weeks 14 of 2020 (March 30 to April 5) and 15 of 2020 (April 6 to 12), depending on the territory. Between weeks 15-2020 and 19-2020 (May 4–10), thanks to the reduction in incoming flights and limited travel by the population, the circulation of the virus was significantly reduced, with very few confirmed cases and very few clinical consultations in private practice or hospitals.

• A new organizational structure for epidemic control has been implemented since the lifting of the lockdown, involving numerous partners, including testing laboratories, primary care physicians, and health insurance providers responsible for detecting and investigating each new case identified. The steps for detecting and managing transmission chains and clusters are carried out by the Regional Health Agencies (ARS) in coordination with the regional units of Santé publique France, based on data from the health insurance system.

• From the lifting of lockdown on May 11 (week 20 of 2020) through June 17 (week 25 of 2020), a total of 23 people tested positive (20 in Guadeloupe, 3 in Saint Martin, 0 in Saint Barthélemy), almost all of whom are imported cases (19/23) who contracted the infection outside our territories (mainland France, Canada). No transmission chains posing a risk of community spread or clusters have been identified in our territories.

• Positivity rates have remained stable over the past 4 weeks (weeks 20–24 of 2020) and are at very low levels (between 1% and 2%), well below the 5% alert threshold despite a high testing rate (between 200 and 500 tests performed per 100,000 inhabitants depending on the territory, comparable to that of France as a whole).

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

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

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

• Active surveillance of severe cases in the intensive care unit at the Guadeloupe University Hospital has identified the discharge of the last patient admitted to intensive care as of June 4.

Surveillance data therefore confirm low-level circulation of the virus across all our territories. Nevertheless, a new introduction of the virus is possible due to the increase in flight frequency announced for the coming weeks, combined with ongoing viral circulation in mainland France (nearly 3,000 cases in week 23 of 2020) or in other neighboring countries. Controlling a new outbreak now depends primarily on preventing the establishment of secondary transmission chains from these imported cases and the emergence of clusters at risk of spreading within the Caribbean population.