BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — There is a new variant strain of the SARS-CoV-2 found in South Africa and Nigeria, and a new variant spreading across most of England, reported Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Hazel Laws, during the January 6 National Emergency Operation Centre COVID-19 Press Briefing.

“The science seems to suggest that these three strains of the SARS-CoV-2 Virus are different,” said Dr. Laws. “The scientists have done quite a lot of work on the new variant circulating in the United Kingdom (UK). They are saying is that this new variant is highly more transmissible than the virus’ previous version.”

Because of this, the UK is experiencing a surge in the number of cases. Dr. Laws said that on January 5, the number of new daily confirmed cases in the UK topped 60,000 for the first time. The BBC stated that the number of patients in hospitals in the UK is 40 times higher than what they experienced during the first peak in 2020.

“As a result, England is in its third national lockdown which came into force yesterday,” said Dr. Laws. “This may extend until approximately mid-February of this year.”

Dr. Laws said the new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is more transmissible at 56 to 70 percent than the previous forms. It spreads more easily between people but does not seem to make people sicker. It will spread faster and infect more people, Because of this, the death toll will increase.

Dr. Laws said that as a result of this, returning nationals from the UK must be quarantined (confined to their rooms) for the two-week quarantine period. They will then have the requisite RT-PCR test done. After the test results are negative, they will be able to integrate into society.

“Travellers returning national from the United Kingdom, won’t be allowed to vacation in place,” said Dr. Laws. “Travellers will be quarantined and confined to their rooms for a two-week period.”

According to the New York Times, the new variant has been found in Florida, Colorado and California. It is rare now in the United States. Dr. Laws said that more testing needs to be done to determine the extent and ultimately its prevalence in the United States.

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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — On January 6, two chartered flights arrived in St. Kitts and Nevis from Miami and Puerto Rico carrying students for the Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine (RUSVM).

Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Hazel Laws, said during her Health Emergency Operations Centre presentation at the National Emergency Operations Centre Press Briefing, this is the sixth batch of students for the university.

The charter flight from Miami brought 87 students, while five students arrived on the charter from Puerto Rico. Ninety-two students transferred from the RLB International Airport to the dorm on the RUSVM campus.

“The students had their pre-arrival RT-PCR tests done in Miami on Monday,” said Dr. Laws. “Only those with negative results boarded the charter. Upon arriving at the RUSVM campus this afternoon their Nasopharyngeal swabs were taken upon arrival.”

Dr, Laws said test samples will be processed and the students have been placed in quarantine at the dorms for 14 days. Then they will receive their exit RT-PCR tests. After their tests are negative, the students will be free to attend classes and integrate into society.

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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — The Family Matters Programme, being carried out by the Counselling Unit within the Ministry of Social Development, is helping families to function holistically, says Family Counsellor, Jeremy Thomas.

Thomas said there is a referral process that families must go through first. He noted that the youth are being contacted as an entry point into the families.

“When you think about it, a lot of the referrals that we get are usually from schools,” said Thomas. “The school counsellors say this is the issue that we have with this particular child. Their parent keeps on coming back and they are saying this is the issue. So we say listen, we have a programme now, which is part of the Family Matters Services.

“Parents have to sign off and agree for the services to commence,” he said. “Without that signature, or without them saying yes, we can’t do anything. Even if the school counsellors say that this child is problematic without their consent, we can’t do anything further than that.”

Thomas said that after the information is received from the counsellor or the school, information about the child is entered into a data system.

“We meet with a guardian and ask them a few questions,” said Thomas. “What’s happening, what is taking place in the home, and then the information is entered into our system. It calculates some of the risk factors that exist within the family. After going through those risk factors, we determine what we are going to do next.

“The department uses the risk factors as an entry point into the family,” said Thomas. “Based on what the system tells us about the risk factors we enter into the family.”

The Family Matters Programme began with recognition that the family has many functions. Its main focus is the social function of the family.

The goal of the programme is to work specifically with families to reduce risk factors so that families are better able to protect their children.

“Ultimately, we have young people who will grow into healthy citizens,” said Family Counsellor, Alicia Collins.

The programme was initiated by the USAID in three territories in 2017. They include St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Guyana. The Counselling Unit facilitated the programme because of its work. USAID financed the programme for the first year, and the government has given its assistance over the years.

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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — The Republic of China (Taiwan) has pledged to assist St. Kitts and Nevis’ effort to procure additional COVID-19 vaccines when they become available under the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility (COVAX).

Chief Medical Officer Dr. Hazel Laws said that the pledge was made by Taiwan’s Resident Ambassador His Excellency Tom Lee during a visit to the Ministry of Health on Wednesday, January 6.

“The Republic of China (Taiwan) is making a very generous donation to the Federation of US$600,000 towards the procurement of vaccines,” Dr. Laws stated during the National Emergency Operations Centre COVID-19 Briefing.

Dr. Laws said St. Kitts and Nevis previously made the required down payment to the COVAX arrangement to make available enough vaccines to cover 20 percent of the population in the initial stages.

Taiwan has been a reliable partner in St. Kitts and Nevis’ war against the novel coronavirus. The ROC previously made donations of personal protective equipment (PPE) to the government. These included ventilators, N-95 facemasks, thermal camera sets, forehead thermal guns, protective clothing, isolation gowns, and testing machines.

Several countries have given emergency approval to use vaccines against COVID-19 among their populations. Persons are receiving vaccines manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech as well as Moderna. The United Kingdom recently approved a vaccine manufactured by Oxford-AstraZeneca for emergency use by its population.

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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — The Team Unity Cabinet of Ministers met on Monday, January 4, 2021, at the Ministry of Finance Conference Room, under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris. Several issues affecting the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis were deliberated on.
• Cabinet was advised of the usual statistics locally, regionally, and globally on the COVID-19 situation. The Director of the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) and the CEO of SCASPA (St. Christopher Air and Sea Ports Authority) gave the updated arrival and departure figures including totals up to the present and from the reopening of the borders. The Chief Medical Officer spoke to the new variant of the virus, the availability of the vaccine, and the preferred type of vaccine for the Federation considering the storage requirements for vaccines. It was also reported that the KOI Resort has come on board for quarantine and isolation with 13 rooms available.
• The Cabinet was advised by the Commissioner of Police on the crime statistics that are trending downwards, while the detection rate is trending upwards.
• The Acting Comptroller of Customs spoke to the Cabinet on the new method for handling and clearing of non-commercial baggage and informed that the new system was much more efficient. Examination of goods is carried out jointly by Customs shipping agents and Port Authority at all times, and CCTV cameras are in use at examination facilities.
• Cabinet was advised that the legal framework has been put in place for the COVID-19 monitoring app to be rolled out in mid-January.
• Cabinet approved a submission for the appointment of members of the board for the Medical Cannabis Authority.

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