(St Lucia Times) CASTRIES, St. Lucia–St. Lucia has received notification from the Caribbean Public Health Agency CARPHA of its first confirmed case of the Omicron sub-variant BA.5.
Global health authorities say BA.5 to date is the most easily transmissible COVID variant, evading previous immunity from COVID infection and vaccination.
According to Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr. Sharon Belmar-George, the first recorded case here is a 36-year-old woman from Vieux Fort without a travel history.
“This suggests in-country transmission of BA.5 and the presence of other cases,” Belmar-George explained.
Her remarks came in an update Monday on COVID-19 and monkeypox.
Last month the Ministry of Health reported on the alert received from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regarding the contacts of a positive crew member.
The CMO said the contact-tracing and self-monitoring of those exposed were carried out and presently, everyone who was exposed has been cleared and is in good health.
“St. Lucia has not recorded any cases of monkeypox to date,” Belmar-George disclosed.
