Dr. Hazel Laws, Chief Medical Officer and head of the local CoVID19 Task Force, St. Kitts and Nevis debunks rumours during her address on March 26 2020
Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr. Hazel Laws during the July 22, 2021, NEOC press briefing indicated that across the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis active cases of the deadly COVID-19 virus are decreasing. The CMO also took the opportunity to highlight the ongoing vaccination efforts, while also outlining the way forward for a return to normalcy amid the ongoing global pandemic.
“Within the past nine weeks, more specifically between May 19 – July 21, we have added 512 cases to the Federations COVID-19 tally. We have been noting a rapid rate of recovery and so to date we have had a total of 514 recoveries, and within the past nine weeks, we have had 469 recoveries from COVID-19. At present, we only have 40 active cases. So, the team of managers is monitoring those 40 active cases. In this period, we have had 32 hospitalizations, however, at present we only have one patient admitted to the COVID-19 ward at the Joseph N. France General Hospital Hospital, with only three COVID-19 related deaths,” said CMO Dr. Hazel Laws.
CMO Dr. Hazel Laws further stated that the peak of COVID-19 cases in the Federation was seen around June 23, 2021, with a downward trend ever since. The daily COVID-19 count has been in single digits most recently, and CMO Dr. Laws has encouraged more persons to support the ongoing vaccination efforts.
“The target population consists of adults in our society. So far, 23, 448 persons have received at least the first dose, with 19,389 persons being fully vaccinated. Approximately, 9,500 adults within our population have still not come on board in terms of accepting the vaccine. This is the subset of individuals that we will continually try to reach in terms of empowering them with the latest information regarding the COVID-19 vaccines, in terms of bringing them onboard in accepting same,” said CMO Dr. Hazel Laws.
CMO Dr. Hazel Laws indicated that persons should still adhere to both the pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical methods in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19 going forward. In an effort to continue the vaccination efforts, the Newtown Health Centre will be opened on Saturday, July 24, 2021, from 9 am to 1 pm for the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine.