by Kevon Browne
St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN): St. Kitts and Nevis has passed 1000 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
St. Kitts and Nevis is in the midst of a third wave of COVID-19 infections, and the recent surge in cases has pushed the COVID-19 cases of infection to 1024.
These past two weeks saw an aggressive upswing in the rate of infection. In the five day period August 16 – 21, 168 cases were registered, and this past week, August 23 – 27 recorded 201 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
St. Kitts has 898 cases in total and Nevis, 126.
Health officials are now monitoring 400 active cases.
Since June 2021, the Lambda variant has been in circulation, and samples have been sent off to test for the Delta variant, plaguing more than 100 countries, including Jamaica, St. Lucia, and Barbados.
St. Kitts and Nevis confirmed a patient with the Delta variant, but they were in quarantine and recovered from the virus.
Officials are suspecting that the Delta variant may well be in circulation.
“We are in battle, a war against the COVID-19 virus. Starting last week, we are noting a surge, an increase in our numbers, and this is signalling the beginning of our third wave. So it’s a battle. We are fighting for our lives. We are fighting not only the Lambda variant of the COVID-19 virus but probably the Delta variant; we have evidence that there was one individual who came into [the country] and was diagnosed with the Delta variant, the individual recovered. So at present, we are not absolutely sure if it is in circulation. However, we sent off a batch of samples to the Caribbean Public Health Agency for genomic sequencing. So in another week or two, we will know for sure if the delta variant is in circulation. But from where we sit in the Ministry of Health, it looks that’s the case.,” shared Chief Medical Officer Dr Hazel Laws during the last press briefing hosted by the National Emergency Operations Center.
There is some positive news however as vaccination rates continue to increase this past week.
From August 23 – 27, 1,728 doses were administered; 223 were first doses, and the vast majority of doses, 1,505, were second compared to the previous week’s 511 total doses administered.
The current batch of AstraZeneca vaccines with just about 1,100 doses left will expire in a few days on August 31.
The next day, Sept. 1, the Ministry of Health will roll out the 11,700 Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine doses for individuals 12 years and older.
