By: Spokesman Newsroom
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts (Thursday 18th November 2021) — Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr. Hazel Laws has informed that St. Kitts-Nevis has recorded its lowest COVID-19 case count in months.
In presenting the situation report at the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) COVID-19 Daily Briefing held on Wednesday 17th November 2021, she stated: “We continue to enjoy a significantly high recovery rate with 2,670 cases recovering fully and that leaves us with 58 cases — 53 active cases on the island of St. Kitts and five in Nevis — and this is the lowest this has been in months. We are happy and we hope the number of active cases continues in this direction, meaning continues to decrease.”
She noted that over the past week the federation had only added 26 new cases, 18 fewer than the previous week, and only one individual had been admitted to hospital over the period, with two COVID-19 positive patients discharged. There was one additional COVID-19 related death concerning an unvaccinated individual, bringing the total to 28 deaths. Total confirmed cases in the Federation reached 2,756 with 452 in Nevis and 2,304 in St. Kitts.
The CMO pointed out that when demographic data is analyzed concerning persons who have died from COVID-19, “we realize that 86 per cent of the 28 cases, the individuals were unvaccinated and 68 per cent were 60 years and over. This data is really telling us that if you are an older adult, 60 years and over, and still unvaccinated, and if you have one of the chronic non-communicable diseases or have comorbidities, your risk of becoming COVID-19 positive is increased and so is your risk of developing or progressing to moderate or severe disease.”
Following a comprehensive audit of vaccination data conducted in collaboration with Epidemiologist Dr. Rosales and Medical Statistician Akila Moore, 24,509 persons were deemed fully vaccinated, giving a coverage rate of 79.4% of adults having received the first dose and 72.8% of adults now fully vaccinated. Notably, 52 per cent of the total population is now fully vaccinated. For children in the 12 to 17 age range, 13.3% have received the first dose and 10.6% the second dose.