Monday marked the beginning of National Public Health Week, which this year is themed “Celebrating and centering on Cultures in Health”.

Territorial Epidemiologist Dr. Esther Ellis, who appeared on behalf of Department of Health Commissioner Justa Encarnacion at this week’s Government House press briefing, outlined the activities D.O.H. will be embarking upon to celebrate the occasion.

The department will this week conduct door-to-door outreach activities in V.I. Housing Authority communities, educating neighborhood residents on communicable diseases, health disparities, chronic disease, behavioral health, maternal and child health, epidemiology and family planning.

On Monday, the Sunny Isles amphitheater on St. Croix hosted an event providing health screenings and health education, Dr. Ellis announced.

On Thursday, the front parking lot of Schneider Regional Medical Center will be transformed to facilitate a family fun day “with a health twist,” according to Dr. Ellis. Along with an Easter Egg hunt, the event will also provide other physical activities, health and nutrition education, and live entertainment.

All D.O.H. offices and clinics will be closed from Thursday through Monday in observance of the Easter weekend, and will reopen on Tuesday March 11, Dr. Ellis advised.

She also provided the territory’s Covid-19 stats; 20 active cases territory-wide (13 on St. Croix, 7 on St. Thomas, 0 on St. John) with three hospitalizations (1 at Juan F. Luis on St. Croix and 2 at Schneider Regional on St. Thomas). The territory’s positivity rate currently stood at 3.5 percent.