On Wednesday, March 11th, 2020, the World Health Organization announced that the coronavirus originally discovered in Wuhan, China the previous December was now a pandemic. At that time, there were 118,000 coronavirus cases in 114 countries and territories, and 4,291 people had lost their lives. Today, there are over 219 million confirmed coronavirus cases in over 200 countries and territories, which has sadly resulted in over 4.55 million deaths. Known officially as SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, or 2019-nCoV the majority of cases and deaths have been in the United States, India, and Brazil.
As COVID-19 is highly contagious and new variants are emerging, most countries continue to institute full or partial lockdowns to contain the spread of the virus. There are also new travel requirements for international visitors. Thus, not only is COVID-19 a health crisis, but it is also becoming an economic crisis since tourism makes up a larger percentage of the gross domestic product (GDP) in most Caribbean countries.
Of course, before we can really begin to consider the economic challenges and roadmap for rebounding, the health crisis has to be contained. Thus, I’ve put together the Caribbean Coronavirus Tracker below to help focus the mind and provide insight on which Caribbean country has the most COVID-19 cases along with vaccination uptakes.
Which Caribbean Country Has The Most COVID-19 Cases
Below is a summary of COVID-19 cases and vaccination activity in the Caribbean. In addition, there is a table highlighting the number of COVID-19 cases, deaths, and vaccination rates for 34 Caribbean countries. The data has been sourced from a number of websites including the Health Department for each Caribbean country along with Our World in Data and JHU CSSE COVID-19 Data.
Caribbean COVID-19 Cases Statistics:
- 3.22 million people in the Caribbean region have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. This is a mix of locals and tourists.
- Of the 3.22 million confirmed covid cases in the Caribbean, 32,301 people have died.
- Cuba is the Caribbean country that has the most covid cases with 1,073,951 positives and 8,501 deaths.
- Six other Caribbean countries have more than 100,000 cases. This includes Dominican Republic (576,129), Puerto Rico (509,000), Trinidad & Tobago (130,964), Jamaica (128,228), Guadeloupe (126,642), and Martinique (126,221).
- Saba is the one Caribbean country that has had zero deaths due to COVID-19.
Caribbean COVID-19 Vaccination Statistics:
- 21.5M people across the Caribbean are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19 with two doses of an approved vaccine (mainly the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine or Pfizer/BioTech vaccine. This represents 47.52% of the region’s population.
- Four Caribbean countries have vaccination rates above eighty percent. This includes the Cayman Islands (89.92%), Cuba (87.37%), Puerto Rico (81.80%), and Saba (85%).
- Haiti has the worst vaccination rate in the Caribbean with just 0.91% of their population fully immunized.
- The low vaccination percentage for some Caribbean countries is not just due to the lack of vaccine availability but also vaccination hesitancy.
- Caribbean governments like Antigua & Barbuda are starting to mandate that locals get vaccinated to maintain jobs in tourism and other key sectors like health and education.
Caribbean Coronavirus Tracker
Last updated: Wednesday, March 9, 2022
Any data not publicly available is marked with ???
| Country | Population | COVID-19 Cases | COVID-19 Deaths | % of Population Fully Vaccinated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anguilla | 14,974 | 2,574 | 9 | 63.13% |
| Antigua & Barbuda | 96,286 | 7,455 | 135 | 62.12% |
| Aruba | 105,845 | 33,732 | 212 | 75.20% |
| The Bahamas | 385,640 | 33,180 | 771 | 39.77% |
| Barbados | 286,641 | 56,376 | 323 | 52.16% |
| Belize | 383,071 | 56,952 | 652 | 51.18% |
| Bermuda | 63,968 | 11,743 | 123 | 74.48% |
| Bonaire | 20,104 | 6,950 | 28 | 63.29% |
| The British Virgin Islands | 29,802 | 6,091 | 62 | 56.95% |
| Cayman Islands | 64,174 | 19,373 | 17 | 89.82% |
| Cuba | 11,328,063 | 1,073,951 | 8,501 | 87.37% |
| Curacao | 159,849 | 39,133 | 264 | 59.64% |
| Dominica | 71,625 | 11,248 | 61 | 41.02% |
| Dominican Republic | 10,824,494 | 576,129 | 4,371 | 53.55% |
| Grenada | 111,454 | 13,690 | 216 | 33.18% |
| Guadeloupe | 400,109 | 126,642 | 837 | 33.00% |
| Guyana | 785,715 | 63,076 | 1,223 | 41.76% |
| Haiti | 11,372,056 | 30,385 | 823 | 0.91% |
| Jamaica | 2,958,320 | 128,228 | 2,831 | 22.13% |
| Martinique | 376,480 | 126,221 | 900 | 42.00% |
| Montserrat | 4,991 | 164 | 2 | 35.11% |
| Puerto Rico | 2,876,246 | 509,000 | 4,140 | 81.80% |
| Saba | 1,915 | 211 | 0 | 85.00%? |
| Saint Barthelemy | 9,871 | 3,780 | 6 | ??? |
| Saint Kitts & Nevis | 53,118 | 5,537 | 42 | 49.11% |
| Saint Lucia | 183,447 | 22,808 | 364 | 28.15% |
| Saint Martin | 38,520 | 9,912 | 63 | ??? |
| Saint Vincent & The Grenadines | 110,865 | 6,742 | 106 | 26.43% |
| Sint Eustatius | 4,020 | 459 | 3 | ??? |
| Sint Maarten | 42,770 | 9,589 | 85 | 59.53% |
| Suriname | 585,489 | 78,623 | 1,319 | 39.90% |
| Trinidad & Tobago | 1,398,517 | 130,964 | 3,667 | 50.20% |
| Turks & Caicos Islands | 38,603 | 5,867 | 36 | 74.34% |
| United States Virgin Islands | 104,458 | 15,440 | 109 | 53.66% |
| Caribbean Total | 45.29M | 3.22M | 32,301 | 47.52% |
| Global Total | 7.594B | 450M | 6.01M | 56.50% |
| Country | Population | COVID-19 Cases | COVID-19 Deaths | % of Population Fully Vaccinated |
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Beyond the individual government websites and social media pages listed as the source for the data presented above, check out these additional resources for insight on the Caribbean response to COVID-19.
Caribbean Public Health Agency – The regional public health agency for the Caribbean.
Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) – The regional inter-governmental agency for disaster management in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
Caribbean Tourism Organization – The Caribbean’s tourism development agency with 27 country members and dozens of private sector members.
Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association – The backbone of the Caribbean hospitality industry with membership including, 1,000 hotels and 33 National Hotel Associations.
University of the West Indies -The leading university within the Caribbean region that has set up a COVID-19 Task Force.
Note: Originally published on April 12th, 2020, this Caribbean Coronavirus Tracker post was last updated on December 1st, 2021.
