Last Updated on January 14, 2022, 6:03 AM AST by Anthony Morris
While the fourth wave of COVID-19 illnesses continues to spread across the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, health officials are confident that the current outbreak will be over shortly.
Dr Cameron Wilkinson, Medical Chief of Staff at the Joseph N. France General Hospital (JNF), stated during the NEOC COVID-19 press briefing on January 12, 2022, that 478 people who were infected with COVID-19 during the current wave have recovered.
“We have a total of4484 confirmed cases to date, with three thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight (3838) in St. Kitts and six hundred and forty-six (646) in Nevis.”
Three thousand two hundred and fifty-two (3252) of these have already been recovered. “So far, we have not added any additional dead during this fourth wave, but this may be unavoidable if we do not provide ourselves with the required protection. During this current wave, I sincerely hope that the death rate remains zero.”
“Based on our experience here, completely vaccinated people are asymptomatic or have very minimal symptoms from the sickness, and most of them test negative in four to five days,” Dr Wilkinson said.
Previous genomic sequencing and testing have revealed the presence of both the Lambda and Omicron variants in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis in terms of variations in circulation. Dr Wilkinson further indicated that data from the current wave shows that those who were vaccinated recovered faster than those who were not, demonstrating the COVID-19 vaccines’ clear effectiveness.
“If we look at the instances from the last wave, which began on December 24, 2021, we have a total of 1,662 new cases” (1662). Females outweigh males, with males accounting for roughly 48 percent of instances and females accounting for 52 percent.”
“We’ve had roughly thirty (30) hospitalizations during this time, six (6) in Nevis and twenty-four (24) in St. Kitts. However, it is crucial for me to point out that while we presently have roughly twenty (20) patients in the JNF who are COVID-19 positive, this does not mean that every patient is there because of COVID-19 disease. Because COVID-19 is so ubiquitous, it’s conceivable to have asymptomatic COVID-19 but be tested for it if you go to the hospital for a cardiac problem, stroke, or other reason, and the findings come back positive,” said Dr. Wilkinson.
It’s vital to remember that the number of hospitalizations does not indicate the number of people who were admitted due to COVID-19 infection. Of the moment, the COVID-19 ward at the JNF hospital contains only about nine (9) patients.
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.
