The highly contagious COVID-19 Delta variant has been confirmed in St. Kitts and Nevis by medical officials..

The announcement was made by Medical Chief of Staff at the Joseph N. France General Hospital Dr Cameron Wilkinson who said it was expected that the variant would enter the federation at some point.

“Samples were sent off to CARPHA for genomic sequencing on July 28. The results returned over the last 24 to 48 hours confirmed the presence of the delta variant in one of the samples tested.”

“I said a couple of weeks ago that it was only a matter of time before the Delta variant arrived at our shores. It was not a matter of if, but when, it was going to arrive and that we all needed to prepare for this eventuality.”

Dr Wilkinson informed that the person who tested positive with the Delta variant was an inbound passenger that has since recovered.

He said: “It is comforting to know that the Delta variant was found in someone who was in quarantine and has since recovered and was not found at large in the community.”

Further samples of positive cases will be sent to CARPHA for genomic sequencing.

 

Situation Report for St. Kitts and Nevis

• 708 confirmed cases: 590 recoveries, 115 active cases,  6 hospitalized, 3 deaths
• 683 confirmed cases in St.Kitts
• 25 confirmed cases in Nevis
• 27 confirmed cases in the last 24 hours
• Daily reported cases continue to climb: 13 new cases on Saturday, 24 on Monday, and 27 on Tuesday after recording daily single-digit positives since the lockdown in July.
• The majority of the recent cases were picked up through contact tracing from recent social gatherings and the early childhood school sector.
• Analysis of the data from the current wave from May 19 to August 3 indicates that of 558 positive cases during that period, 81.5 per cent were in persons under the age of 50 with 23.8 per cent in the 0 to 19 age range, and 42.9 per cent in the 20 to 39 age group.
• 248 cases or 44.4% were unvaccinated adults, 113 cases or 20.3% were children who could not be vaccinated and 101 cases or 18% were persons who were partially vaccinated. Only 70 cases or 12.8% were fully vaccinated.

The Roll Up to Roll Out Vaccination Campaign continues in St. Kitts and Nevis. To date, 72.9 % of adults covered with one shot of the vaccine and 61.6% are fully vaccinated.

Recently Dr Wilkinson announced that due to the transmissibility of the Delta variant, the federation’s 70% goal for herd immunity is subject to change.

In the coming weeks, children between the ages of 12 to 18 will be offered the opportunity to take the vaccine following receipt of a donation of over 11 thousand doses of the Pfizer Biontech vaccine from the United States government.