PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) — Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname continued to register deaths from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic over the last 24 hours, while St Lucia reported increases cases of the virus among its population on Thursday.

Trinidad’s Ministry of Health said there were 558 new cases and 10 deaths pushing the overall total to 18,227 positive cases and 341 deaths respectively. It said the number of active cases were just shy of 7,000, standing at 6, 998.

There are 412 patients in hospitals, 324 at state-sanctioned quarantine facilities and 5,887 in home isolation.

The authorities said that five elderly females all with comorbidities succumbed to the virus, while one young male adult with no underlining health conditions died from contracting the virus.

Suriname registered its 35th death so far this month bringing the total death toll to 239 since the first case was registered in March last year.

The authorities also reported that 158 people tested positive from 449 swabs and that the total of positive cases in the country now stands at 12,409.

In the past 24 hours, 75 civilians have been declared cured, bringing that total to 10,507. Currently, 203 people are being cared for in hospitals, 32 COVID-19 patients are admitted to intensive care units and 673 infected civilians are in isolation, the authorities added.

The Ministry of Health and Wellness in St Lucia reported 17 new cases of COVID-19 from a batch of 258 samples taken on May 17-18.

The ministry said it also received confirmation of the recovery of 25 individuals bringing the total number of active cases in the country to date to 236. Presently, one of the active cases is requiring critical care at the Respiratory Hospital. The new cases bring the total number of cases diagnosed in the country to date to 4,923.