TRUE BLUE, Grenada, September 04, 2021 — Today, St. George’s University (SGU) released the results of the COVID-19 screening on campus.

SGU screened over 3500 students, faculty, staff, significant others, vendors, and contractors on campus with Gold-standard nasal and saliva PCR testing, which are extremely sensitive and specific when detecting individuals who are currently infected with the virus.

The screening program has detected a total of 15 members of our SGU community as laboratory confirmed COVID-19 positivity. In addition, three individuals have recently reported mild symptoms and tested positive when a rapid antigen test was conducted. Therefore, the screening program revealed a very low prevalence of less than one half of one percent (.5%) among the entire SGU community.

The affected individuals who reside off-campus are in self-isolation and are asymptomatic or have very mild symptoms. None of these individuals have been hospitalized. They are receiving the relevant support as SGU takes all the necessary steps to ensure the health, safety, and well-being of the community. SGU continuously reminds all students, faculty and staff to comply with the government regulations and to protect their health and safety.

SGU protects and values the privacy of all members of the SGU community. In accordance with health privacy laws, no information regarding the identity of the impacted individuals, their relatives or related details will be shared with the public. The health and safety of SGU students, faculty, staff, and the Grenadian community remain our primary concern.

SGU has a dedicated team mobilized to support the contact tracing efforts of Grenada’s Ministry of Health, which are guided by Grenada’s Public Health (COVID-19) Regulations and Quarantine Act. This team is focused on tracking and notifying any members of the SGU community who may have been in contact with the individuals who tested positive for COVID- 19. The results of our testing and tracing efforts have been reported to the Ministry of Health and have been included in the COVID-19 update dashboard.

“All SGU students, faculty and staff on campus are vaccinated and while a small proportion of vaccinated individuals may become infected with COVID, infections among vaccinated individuals tend to be mild” said Dr. Richard Liebowitz, Vice Chancellor of St. George’s University. “According to the CDC, COVID-19 vaccines are extremely effective against severe disease and death from variants of the virus that cause COVID-19, including the Delta variant”.

The University’s leadership views any breach of Grenada’s Public Health (COVID-19) Regulations and Quarantine Act very seriously and will take disciplinary action when appropriate, in addition to the actions of local authorities.

SGU remains deeply committed to its comprehensive plan to stop the virus spread on campus and in the Grenadian community. SGU maintains its position requiring all students, faculty, and staff on campus to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

SGU is communicating frequently with its students, faculty, and staff about steps to take for COVID-19 infection prevention and management on-and-off campus. All members of the SGU community are required to support testing and tracing efforts and self-isolating in quarantine if they have been asked to do so.

SGU will observe all government directives and protocols to maintain the safety of the campus and broader community. Individuals, communities, and healthcare providers in Grenada and around the world continue to confront the challenges of COVID-19, and we are committed to doing our part to prioritize the health, safety, and support of our SGU community while undertaking measures to help slow the spread of COVID-19 in Grenada.