As part of his June 10, 2021, COVID-19 update, Hon Malone welcomed UK professor Ian Cumming of Public Health England, the official conducting an assessment of COVID-19 measures and guidelines in the VI.

Professor Cumming is also the UK's Healthcare Ambassador for British Overseas Territories.

According to Hon Malone, Mr Cumming will offer up recommendations on not only laboratory improvements in the territory, but he will also lend his experience to locals as he travels throughout the British Overseas Territories.

Hon Malone said more monitoring of the COVID-19 situation in the territory will come through the local Health Emergency Operations Centre (HEOC) and the Public Health teams and more strategies will be proposed to help mitigate the impact of the pandemic on our Territory.

Hon Malone reminded that for the Territory to achieve herd immunity against the virus, a much greater uptake of the available AstraZeneca vaccine must be undertaking ahead of the vaccine’s expiration date.

Vaccine is 'only assurance' to return to normalcy - Minister

“Despite the growing voices of dissent to the vaccine – not only in the BVI, but throughout the Region and the World, the vaccine is literally the only viable assurance of returning to some level of normalcy,” the Minister said.

Hon Malone reminded that for the Territory to achieve herd immunity against the virus, a much greater uptake of the available AstraZeneca vaccine must be undertaken ahead of the vaccine’s expiration date.

“Your government has done all that we can to prepare and prevent this disease from impacting us all. We must each now take personal responsibility for the lives and livelihoods of ourselves, our family members, and for us as an entire territory,” Hon Malone said.