by Kevon Browne
St Kitts and Nevis (WINN): In St. Vincent and the Grenadines, multiple stressors seem to be plaguing the country; Dengue, COVID-19 and La Soufriere.
On Tuesday the island’s Health Ministry said the latest dengue-related death is a (15) year old asthmatic female admitted to the hospital early in January 2021.
The female at the time of admission had acute dengue fever and a severe allergic drug reaction.
One thousand, seven hundred and ninety (1790) laboratory-confirmed cases of dengue fever have been recorded in St Vincent since the outbreak in 2020.
Eight persons have died from complications of severe dengue fever during this current outbreak.
Concerning La Soufriere, five teams of seismic experts are currently monitoring the development of the dome and have noted that growth continues but appears to be mainly towards the north along the moat.
Members of Staff of the Nation Emergency Management Operations (NEMO) and Professor Richardson Robertson of the UWI Seismic Research Center, were in the villages of Chateaubelair and Fitz-Hughes on the Leeward side of the island Wednesday, updating residents, via a Public Address system, on current activities at the volcano, preparedness for family members, and the meeting points in each community in the event that an evacuation order is issued.
This activity will continue today Wednesday, January 20, in the Petit Bordel, Rose Bank, Rose Hall, and Troumaca areas.
The Alert Level remains at Orange. The volcano continues to exude magma on the surface and steam can be observed from the Belmont Observatory.
Persons living in areas close to the volcano should expect strong sulphur smells for several days to weeks, depending on changes in wind direction.
In more St. Vincent and the Grenadines news, COVID-19 cases moved up by 62 on Tuesday, January 19.
The 62 new cases are all nationals detected during contact tracing, testing at flu clinics, and targeted screening.
The country had recorded a total of 602 cases of COVID-19.
Two people have died of COVID-19 complications, 119 have recovered and 481 cases remain active.
