Last week there were 134 chikungunya cases but that figure has jumped to 312,” Maureen van Dijk-Wijngaarde told Times of Suriname. Van Dijk-Wijngaarde is the head of a workgroup that has been tasked with keeping track of the chikungunya virus and which has to publish reports regarding the state of affairs twice a week.

Van Dijk-Wijngaarde explained that the tests were carried out by the Central Laboratory of the Public Health Bureau (BOG) but that she could not indicate in which areas the people who tested positive for the chikungunya virus live. She pointed out that Suriname is still in the danger zone and that she expects the number of chikungunya cases to rise in the next couple of weeks.

Last week the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Labor (VWA) officially announced that there was a chikungunya outbreak in Suriname. There were initially 8 confirmed cases of chikungunya. Shortly afterwards reports indicated that a person had died after having been infected with this virus. The minister of Health later informed parliament that there were 134 chikungunya cases. That number recently jumped to 312