COVID-19 Contact-tracing: 760 persons under quarantine in St Kitts and Nevis

St Kitts and Nevis: In the past few days, more than seven hundred (700) people have been in St Kitts, including elementary and high school students, were affected in some way by the government's robust and diligent contact-tracing practices following the recent discovery of a group of positive cases in the Federation.

During Friday (May 28) COVID-19 media conference by the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC), Chief Medical Officer Dr Hazel Laws announced that there are currently 23 active cases of the virus in the Federation, with four of the cases confirmed earlier Friday.

The four most recent cases, all of which are nationals, relate to recently reported cases.

Prime Minister Dr Timothy Harris, who during the NEOC media conference gave his support to the National COVID-19 task force, expressed empathy with the individuals affected by the group positive cases.

The Prime Minister urged other citizens and residents to see this development as a wake-up call for the severity of the virus and how important it is for all of us to play our part in the spread of COVID-19.

"More than 700 people who have been part of the contact detection in the past few days, many of them were unsuspecting in the prospect that they could never be caught in any way with regard to the COVID-19. This is a wake-up call for all of us," said Prime Minister Harris.

There are currently about 760 people in quarantine and segregated as a result of contact tracing exercises. Of the 760 individuals, 63 are isolated or quarantined at COVID-19 certified facilities, while the other 697 are asked to do self-quarantine.

Dr Harris added: "Whether you are a child going to primary school, or that we are a parent, or that we are nurses and doctors, it really does not matter, any of us and we are all in danger and the only way we can reduce the risk is to ensure that we are all vaccinated.”

Over the past few days, the number of people who have been vaccinated has drastically increased. At the end of the day on Friday, 28 May, a total of 26,038 people had received at least their first dose of Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine. This represents 57.2 percent of the government's target population for herd immunity in St Kitts and Nevis.