Basseterre, St. Kitts (SKNIS): St. Kitts and Nevis’ rising cases of COVID-19 are influenced by the Omicron variant which is milder than the original COVID-19 strain and other variants including the Delta variant.
To date, health authorities have identified the Lambda and Omicron variants as the two variants in circulation in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis. Medical Chief of Staff of the Joseph N. France General Hospital, Dr. Cameron Wilkinson, said that the Delta variant has not had an impact to date.
“When we had the quarantine period in place, there were one or two persons who tested positive while in quarantine for the Delta variant and recovered before they were released into the community,” Dr. Wilkinson stated, at the January 12, 2022, briefing by the National Emergency Operations Centre. “And so yes we had the Delta variant in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, but we had no evidence that it was circulating in the community.”
As of Tuesday, January 11, 2022, there were 1,204 active cases. Most of the cases experience mild symptoms provided that they are fully vaccinated, said Dr. Wilkinson
He encouraged nationals who have not yet done so to go out and accept the vaccine or a booster shot if they were vaccinated more than six months ago. Vaccines are available at all health centres between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.
