by Devonne Cornelius
St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN): Medical Chief of Staff at the JNF General Hospital Dr. Cameron Wilkinson has confirmed the first case of the Delta variant in St Kitts and Nevis.
The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) confirmed the Delta variant in a sample sent last month.
“Samples were sent to CARPHA for genomic sequencing on July 28. The results returned over the last 24 to 48 confirmed the presence in one of the samples tested,” Dr. Wilkinson said later revealing that “it was an inbound passenger who was in quarantine and has since recovered”.
“It is comforting to know that the Delta variant was found in someone who was in quarantine…and was not found at large in the community. We will be sending off further samples for genomic sequencing,” Dr. Wilkinson said while a guest on the August 17 edition of ‘Leadership Matters’.
Within the past week, 83 people tested positive for the virus. The latest COVID-19 Situation Report released Tuesday evening (Aug.17) reported 27 new cases identified in the past 24 hours.
Health officials reported the following:
Monday, August 16 – 26 cases
Saturday, August 14 – 13 cases
Friday, August 13 – 6 cases
Thursday, August 12 – 6 cases
Wednesday, August 11 – 5 cases
COVID-19 cases in the federation now stand at 708 with health officials identifying 683 on St. Kitts and 25 for the island of Nevis. Three COVID-19 related deaths have been reported with 590 recoveries and 115 remaining active.
