by Devonne Cornelius
St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN): Health officials are reporting that 39 cases of the coronavirus disease have been identified in Her Majesty’s Prison in Basseterre, St. Kitts with the first case being found on June 09, 2021.
Providing that information was Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Hazel Laws during her presentation on the June 21 National Emergency Operations Centre Covid-19 Press Briefing.
“We’ve identified two additional inmates with Covid-19 [on June 19]that brings the total to 39. The affected inmates are all isolated and they are being monitored,” the Chief Medical Officer said.
Eight cases were identified on June 11 with an additional two on June 15. As the virus continued to spread throughout the prison, health officials discovered a total of 26 new cases just two days later on June 17.
WINN understands that Her Majesty’s Prison is significantly overpopulated with 13 inmates being held in one cell originally designed for four.
In response to a question about the capacity at Her Majesty’s Prison in Basseterre, St. Kitts, Mr. Osmond Petty, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security said there is adequate space within the prison compound that can be used to isolate prisoners who have tested positive for Covid-19.
Mr. Petty was speaking at a joint press conference by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of National Security on Thursday, June 17, 2021, when he disclosed that information.
