By: Spokesman Newsroom
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts (Friday 20th August 2021) — Chief of Staff at the JNF General Hospital and COVID-19 National Task Force member Dr. Cameron Wilkinson has reported that the first patient in St. Kitts-Nevis confirmed to be infected with the Delta variant of COVID-19 has recovered. The Delta variant was confirmed in one of samples sent to CARPHA for genomic sequencing on July 28th, with results returning within the last 24–48 hours. “This was an inbound passenger who was in quarantine, and has since recovered. It is comforting to know that the Delta variant was found in someone who was in quarantine and has not been found at large in the community. We will be sending off further samples for genomic sequencing,” Dr. Wilkinson said on ‘Leadership Matters’ on ZIZ on Tuesday 17th August 2021.
Dr. Wilkinson described the Delta variant as “the most contagious we have seen so far” — dubbed by the WHO as the “fast and fittest of all variants.” He warned: “Without vaccination and a mask, an infected person with the original virus would infect 2.5 other persons under the same conditions; a person infected with the Delta variant will infect nine other persons.” He said the variant might cause more severe illness in unvaccinated persons, and that unvaccinated children are at particular risk. “Our elderly are also more likely to become symptomatic, be hospitalised and die if infected with the Delta variant.” Neighbours in the Caribbean already confirmed to have the Delta variant include Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Barbados, Puerto Rico, Anguilla, Saba, the US Virgin Islands and St. Martin. Dr. Wilkinson urged rapid vaccination: “The vaccine is our best defence against this highly contagious and deadly variant. The higher the proportion of the population fully vaccinated, the better our defence against the Delta variant.”