THE HAGUE, WILLEMSTAD - A record number of corona infections was registered on Curaçao on Wednesday. It concerns 51 cases. Never before have there been so many infections on the island in one day. Curaçao is currently extra popular with Dutch holidaymakers because the Caribbean parts of the kingdom are the only destinations without negative travel advice from the government in The Hague.
The government in Willemstad says that it is being investigated whether there has been a specific event where many people have become infected. More than thirty of the new infections cannot be linked to existing cases.
315 active infections have now been registered on Curaçao since the beginning of the pandemic on the island which was in March. Seven people with a corona infection are in hospital, one of them in intensive care. Since March of this year, two people who were infected with corona have died. In Curaçao, the number of infections has been around 300 for several weeks.
Yesterday, 28 people also recovered from the corona infection. The island has had a curfew since September 14, and dance and music activities have been prohibited since August. Furthermore, people must keep their distance as much as possible.
Bookings boom
After the press conference of the Dutch Prime Minister last week in which a negative travel advice was given for all foreign destinations with the exception of the Caribbean parts of the kingdom, there was a boom in bookings to Curaçao, tour operators Corendon and TUI noted. For example, tens to hundreds of people booked a holiday trip for Curaçao in a short time.
According to a spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, there is currently no talk of tightening up travel advice. This can happen if the Ministry of Health sees reason to do so. "Today we will first contact the authorities in Curaçao to understand what is going on," said a spokesperson for the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. "We are not going to anticipate anything before we get the facts in focus."