Grenada today announced a new case of the coronavirus (COVID-19), six weeks after the island had recorded its 23rd case of the disease that has killed more than 661,000 people and infected 16.7 million others worldwide. Photo: goatsontheroad.com

Health authorities said that a passenger who arrived on the island from the United States last week had tested positive for the virus that was first detected in China last December.

The unidentified person was among a group of Grenadians who returned via a charter Jetblue flight last Wednesday. Under the new health protocol, all passengers arriving on an international flight must be placed in 14 days' mandatory quarantine.

“So, the person is already in quarantine,” Health Minister Nickolas Steele told a sitting of the Lower House of Parliament on today.

Grenada's first COVID-19 case was announced in March, an imported flight from the United Kingdom. The government subsequently shut down the borders, including declaring a state of emergency in a bid to curb the spread of the virus.

It has since reopened the Maurice Bishop International Airport to regional and charter flights, with international commercial flights scheduled to land here from August 1.