Community spread of COVID: St Kitts and Nevis imposes state of emergency

Basseterre, St Kitts and Nevis: St Kitts and Nevis imposed a "State of Emergency" following the community spread of coronavirus across the twin-island nation. The SOE will remain until 11:59 pm Tuesday, July 6 2021. The decision was taken by Governor-General Samuel Weymouth Tapley Seaton on Monday.The State of Emergency in St. Kitts and Nevis have been issued due to the new wave COVID-19. Authorities stated that the country is now experiencing a community spread of the contagious virus, and there are currently 180 active COVID-19 cases; however, no virus-related deaths have been recorded. Since 2020, the country recorded only 244 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with 64 successfully recovered. The number of confirmed cases was less than a hundred until new cases started to appear in May 2021. The government and other COVID-19 task forces of St Kitts and Nevis have urged people to comply with the non-pharmaceutical measures, i.e. wearing face masks, hand hygiene, social distancing. Besides this, all eligible people are advised to get their shots of the Oxford Astrazeneca coronavirus vaccine at the earliest. Even in 2020, when the first few cases of COVID-19 were discovered, the government had imposed the State of Emergency, and the general elections were also conducted during the SOE.What is an SOE? A State of Emergency or Emergency Powers is a circumstance in which a government is allowed to be able to put through policies that it would typically not be allowed to do in a democracy for the security and protection of its citizens. State of Emergency (SOE) can be declared in certain situations, including during the occurrence of a natural disaster, civil unrest, armed conflict, medical pandemic or epidemic or other biosecurity risks. States of Emergency could be utilized as a rationale or appearance for suspending rights and liberties secured under a country's constitution or fundamental law, seldom through military law or denying habeas corpus.