Basseterre, St. Kitts, December 30, 2021 – Chief Medical Officer of Health in St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr. Hazel Laws has confirmed that the highly contagious Omicron variant now exists in circulation in St. Kitts and Nevis.
The announcement was made at an emergency briefing of the Covid-19 Taskforce to update the Federation on the ongoing 4th wave of Covid-19 infections. In making the announcement, the Chief Medical Officer noted that on December 22, 2021, three (3) samples of the virus were sent for genomic sequencing, and two of the three samples returned positive for the Omicron variant.
Dr Laws used the opportunity to appeal to citizens and residents to take extra precautionary measures as they close out the year, attending certain activities. She also encouraged the non-vaccinated members to get vaccinated.
The Omicron variant now joins the Lamba variant in circulation in the Federation. The Lamba variant has been the dominant variant in the Federation for the past seven months.
As of Wednesday, December 29, 2021, 106 active cases exist in St. Kitts and Nevis, with 21 of those cases Nevis.