Chief Medical Officer Dr. Hazel Laws is appealing to citizens and residents that they must remain vigilant and comply with the pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical measures because the COVID-19 pandemic is not going anywhere anytime soon.
The Chief Medical Officer said living with COVID-19 involves the effective face, space, and hand measures. These are: always wearing a face mask when in public, frequently sanitizing hands, and maintaining a safe distance of six feet from others.
She also advised persons to boost their immune system, exercise regularly, avoid large crowds, and stay at home unless necessary.
“These protective measures are very, very important because you do not know where the virus is [or] who is infected. It can be loved ones, it can be friends,” Dr. Laws stated. “These protective measures are simple, simple ways in which you can protect yourself from the virus,” she added.
“There are individuals who are of the impression that we are going to be COVID-free again, probably in another week or two. That is not going to be possible,” Dr. Laws expressed. “We are going to continue identifying newly diagnosed COVID-19 patients on a daily basis, a weekly basis, for the next couple of months at least, and so we need to understand that COVID is here and we need to live with COVID.”
Health authorities in St. Kitts and Nevis have successfully contained the second wave of COVID-19 that saw the overall numbers jump from 45 confirmed cases on May 19, 2021, to 544 as of July 15, 2021.
The daily case count peaked between June 11 and 23. Since then, cases have drastically trended downwards. Presently, there have been 447 recoveries from the virus; there are 94 active cases, and three persons have died.