Last Updated on December 3, 2021, 7:55 AM AST by Anthony Morris
The Ministry of Health has worked tirelessly to prevent the deadly COVID-19 virus from spreading throughout the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis by ensuring that a high proportion of the population is vaccinated.
The Government has reduced the quarantine time for fully vaccinated inbound tourists to only twenty-four (24) hours ahead of the Christmas and Carnival seasons, in an effort to restore some semblance of normalcy and economic activity throughout the Federation. Dr. Hazel Laws, Chief Medical Officer (CMO), repeated the government’s position on quarantine regulations during the NEOC COVID-19 Press Briefing on December 1, 2021.
“If you are completely vaccinated, inbound passengers to the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis must submit a negative PCR-Test within 72 hours of arriving in the Federation.”
Explaining the detailed process, she stated that uon arrival, travellers will be placed in quarantine for twenty-four (24) hours. “Persons are now getting their samples done and receiving their results within that 24-hour time, and once your result is negative, you are free to rejoin society. So that’s the protocol that’s currently being used. ”
As per Dr Laws, the safeguard efforts will be in place for at least another week or two until further information about the Omicron variation becomes available.
“Those who are in pre-approved home quarantine must still bring a COVID-19 certified car to either the Pogson Hospital, Mary Charles Hospital, or Joseph N. France General Hospital (JNF) to have their sample taken,” CMO Dr. Laws added.
The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis has chosen to monitor incoming travellers for the next fourteen (14) days in the hopes of detecting any cases of the Omicron COVID-19 strain arriving in the Federation. Dr. Laws, the Federation’s CMO, also discussed the rules for unvaccinated and partially vaccinated incoming travellers.
“All vaccinated guests, whether arriving by cruise or plane, will be permitted to visit any of the designated tourist attraction locations or beaches.”
As a result, both cruise and layover passengers who have finished their quarantine can rejoin society. If you are going into the Federation for returning nationals, the quarantine time has been decreased from fourteen days to nine (9) days for unvaccinated or partially vaccinated inbound passengers,” noted CMO Dr. Laws.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has designated the Omicron variant as a Variant of Concern, and the WHO recommends that countries improve surveillance and sequencing of cases, share genome sequences on publicly available databases like GISAID, report initial cases or clusters to WHO.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
