By: Precious Mills
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts (Friday 28th May 2021) — Medical Chief of Staff at the JNF General Hospital Dr. Cameron Wilkinson has given the reasoning of local health authorities against the public naming of COVID-19 patients, following questions at the NEOC briefing on Wednesday 26th May 2021. Some members of the public had argued that naming cases would assist contact tracing in a small society. Dr. Wilkinson disagreed.
“There is absolutely no reason why one needs to know the 15 or 16 persons who happen to have been confirmed to have COVID-19. Every day persons sit next to people on public transportation and do not know their names. The reason we tell you to wear a mask, social distance and sanitize is that you need to assume that everyone is positive — and by assuming that, you can decrease the spread,” he said. He also warned that identifying cases leads to victimization: “Persons are beginning to victimise persons and it is not a scorn. We can help to decrease the scorn by keeping the person’s information out of the general public.” The contact tracing personnel have sufficient information to conduct their work without publicising names.