Basseterre, St. Kitts, June 08, 2021 (SKNIS): On Monday (June 07), Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Hazel Laws, identified three factors fuelling the recent wave of cases that have resulted in 11 new cases of the Novel Coronavirus that were detected over the past 72 hours.
“Based on the information gleaned through our contact tracing process, we are … realizing that our private and public sector entities are not in full compliance with the COVID-19 prevention and control measures,” CMO Dr. Laws said at a Special COVID-19 Briefing.
These measures include limiting the number of persons in enclosed spaces, encouraging physical distancing, providing soap and water or sanitizing stations, enforcing mask-wearing mandates by clients and employees, and sanitizing frequently touched areas.
Individual responsibility or the lack thereof was also listed as a major concern.
“Individuals are not wearing their facemasks when they should or when they are in the public domain. They are not ensuring that their hands are properly sanitized after touching high touched areas,” Dr. Laws added. “Some of the business sector employees are coming to work and they are experiencing respiratory symptoms, and they are working one [or] two days while experiencing respiratory symptoms.”
This goes against the advice of health authorities who implored persons with flu-like symptoms to stay at home and seek medical attention.
The final factor fuelling the community’s spread was the rate of vaccination. While the numbers compare favourably to many developed and developing countries, the threshold for herd immunity has not been met, as yet. At the end of business day on June 07, 29,884 persons were administered with a first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. The number represents 63.9 percent of the target population needed to reach herd immunity. Eight thousand seven hundred and fifty-nine persons have received their second jab.
Herd immunity will occur when 33,037 persons are fully vaccinated.
CMO Dr. Laws strongly encouraged persons to get vaccinated and to strictly adhere to the non-pharmaceutical protocols that have proven effective to control the spread of COVID-19.
Over the past 72 hours, 11 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 were detected. This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 94. Fifty-three cases have fully recovered. There are 41 active cases, zero deaths, and four hospitalizations.
This marks the first time that notable hospitalizations are taking place. One of the hospitalized individuals is listed with a moderate to severe case of COVID-19. Another is categorized as having a moderate case while the remaining two are listed as mild to moderate cases.