WASHINGTON, D.C. — “Today marks another tragic milestone in our region: over one million people in the Americas have now died from complications of COVID-19. We’ve lost more people to this virus than the entire population of many cities,” said Pan American Health Organization Director Carissa F. Etienne.

Speaking at a press briefing, said Etienne, “The weight of this loss is incalculable,” noting that over 44 million people in the Americas have now been infected with COVID-19, including more than two million in the last week.

“One million people with hopes, dreams and a future cut short. One million mourning families – many unable to say goodbye – who will feel their absence forever. The scars and the lessons of this pandemic will stay with us,” said Etienne.

The COVID-19 pandemic “has brought a triple crisis throughout our region as it has ravaged our health systems, fractured our social protection, and destabilized our economies. The loss of one million people from this virus should serve as an urgent call that we must do more to protect ourselves and each other from getting sick. This includes strong calls to action to reinforce the public health measures that are needed now in each of the places that are seeing outbreaks,” said Etienne.

Calling health workers in the region “our heroes who have cared for every patient that has been hospitalized for this virus,” she said, “Many have risked their own lives and those of their families to care for those who are sick, and their heroic efforts have saved many COVID patients.”

Etienne added, “Although there’s limited data, we know that more than a million health workers in our region have become sick with COVID-19 and at least 4,000 – most of them women – have died as a result, affecting our ability to respond to this public health threat. Each of these people has a face, a name and story.”

She recognized one of the many health workers as an example of those lost, Dr Rosemary Costa Pinto, who headed the leading public health agency in the Brazilian state of Amazonas. “Today, we celebrate her life and we thank the millions of health workers still on the front lines of this virus, who are saving lives every day. Their countless sacrifices will not be forgotten,” said Etienne.

Etienne outlined the course of the pandemic in North America, with the highest number of cases and growing pressure on hospital capacity, and in the Caribbean, where some smaller countries are seeing a rapid acceleration of cases.

“By contrast, most countries in Central America, except for Honduras and Guatemala, are seeing a decrease in COVID-19 infections over the previous week,” said Etienne. “In South America, while hospitalizations are on the rise throughout much of the region, including in Colombia, Chile and Peru, the situation in Brazil is particularly worrisome.”

The pandemic of COVID-19 “has ushered in a mental health crisis, as we’ve been shaken by fear, depression, isolation, and loss that is made especially acute as we mark this grim milestone, Etienne said, noting that 29 countries have reported disruptions in mental health services.

Etienne also highlighted the economic impact of the pandemic, “Today, 16 million more people are living in poverty, compared to when the pandemic started and millions of others are at risk of falling deeper into poverty in the wake of this virus.” Rising food prices also place millions of people at risk of going hungry.”

As COVID vaccines are rolled out over the coming months, we need health systems to track vaccinations and prioritize those most at risk of severe illness, like the elderly and our health workers so we can reduce demand on our hospitals.

“We owe a great debt to our front line health workers, so I’ve been pleased to see that in countries where vaccinations are underway, doses are being prioritized for health workers, with similar plans across other countries that will roll out vaccines soon.

Broad access to vaccines represents our way out of this pandemic, but while supplies are limited, we need to focus on preventing new infections now to keep the virus under control,” said Etienne.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Three new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which are raising concerns about possible heightened spread and severity of COVID-19, have been detected in 14 countries in the Americas, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) reported in a new Epidemiological Update.

“Mutations are an expected part of the spread of any virus,” said PAHO Incident Manager Sylvain Aldighieri. “That’s why we’re asking national and local authorities to continue to strengthen existing disease control activities, including monitoring COVID-19 closely. We need epidemiological surveillance, including expanding regional genomics surveillance, outbreak investigation, and contact tracing. Where appropriate, we need to adjust public health and social measures to reduce transmission.”

The PAHO update notes, “It has recently been documented that people infected with the VOC 202012/01 variant have a higher risk of death than people infected with other variants. Preliminary studies suggest that the 501Y.V2 variant is associated with a higher viral load, which could suggest a potential for greater transmissibility.”

Referring to the two variants detected in the United Kingdom and South Africa, Aldighieri said that so far, they do not appear to have generated community transmission in the region of the Americas. So far, cases appear to be limited to people travelling from the two countries or connected to people traveling from those countries.

The third variant, detected in the state of Amazonas, Brazil, is most prevalent locally and researchers have recently suggested a causal link with the increase observed during the last weeks in hospitalization in Manaus. “But it’s still early to conclude on the strength of the association between the emergence of the variant and the recent dynamics of transmission,” Aldighieri said.

Hitting a grim milestone, the number of deaths in the Americas due to COVID-19 reached 1,015,534 on Jan 26. The number of people infected with the disease in 56 countries and territories within the Americas reached 44,197,482.

During a recent press briefing, PAHO Director Carissa F. Etienne said, “The loss of one million people from this virus should serve as an urgent call that we must do more to protect ourselves and each other from getting sick. This includes strong calls to action to reinforce the public health measures that are needed now in each of the places that are seeing outbreaks.”

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The appearance of new variants of the COVID-19 virus in several countries of the Americas, combined with an acceleration in the virus’s spread in virtually every country in the Americas, makes it urgent to continue public health measures such as social distancing, wearing masks, and washing hands often, said Pan American Health Organization Director Carisa F. Etienne.

Our collective ability to keep up with these measures has the power to determine the trajectory of this year. If we remain diligent, we have the power to control this virus; if we relax, make no mistake: 2021 could well be far worse than 2020.”

“Since the start of this pandemic, over 39 million people across the Americas have become infected by COVID-19 and over 925,000 of them have succumbed to the virus,” said Dr. Etienne. “In the last week alone, 2.5 million people were infected with COVID-19 in our region – the highest weekly cases since the virus first reached our shores.”

PAHO’s genomics surveillance network of 21 laboratories has been tracking the spread of the virus and mutations, she highlighted, and the variant first seen circulating in the UK has now been reported in eight countries: Brazil, Canada, Chile, Ecuador, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru, and the USA. In addition, Brazil and Canada have reported seeing another variant that was first reported in South Africa.

“At this time, there is no evidence to suggest that these variants affect patients differently, but early data does suggest that the virus can spread more easily, accelerating the threat to our health systems at a time in which they are already close to capacity,” said Dr. Etienne.

One vaccine has been approved by WHO and more are underway. Some countries in the region have started vaccinating health workers and vulnerable groups, but “as long as doses remain limited, we can’t rely on vaccinations to flatten the pandemic curve,” she said.

PAHO’s priorities in 2021 include ensuring equitable access to protective equipment for health workers, medications and hospital care when required, and vaccines, Etienne said.

“With the arrival of vaccines, we must ensure not just that doses are produced quickly, but that they’re equitably delivered and swiftly across every country – regardless of income. This will require global and regional collaboration and solidarity, with donors pitching in resources through mechanisms like the COVAX Facility,” said Dr. Etienne.

PAHO is working with all countries in the Americas to help secure the vaccine doses countries need to protect their populations.

“We’re also providing support with vaccine demand planning, logistics, and cold chain management, surveillance and information system strengthening, health worker training, and vaccine communication planning, among others,” said Dr. Etienne. “Luckily, our region has a strong legacy of immunization, noting that through PAHO’s Revolving Fund, “Member States pool their national resources to procure vaccines and related products at the lowest price. COVID will be a challenge, but one I believe that we can meet by working together.”

“In the year ahead, political leaders “will face difficult choices as we work to flatten the transmission curve,”. And that’s why we need leaders to act transparently so that the public understands their decisions, and the scientific evidence that is behind those decisions, so we can rally people around a shared plan,” the PAHO Director said.

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GENEVA — The International Federation Association of Football (FIFA) is teaming up with the World Health Organization (WHO) to promote the need for fair access to COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and diagnostics, and to encourage people to keep practicing life-saving, every day public health measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and to protect health.

In conjunction with the FIFA Club World Cup 2020, being held in Qatar from February 4 to 11, FIFA and WHO are launching a public awareness campaign involving star footballers, through TV and in-stadium messaging, to further promote the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator initiative launched in April 2020, and to urge people to practice mask wearing, physical distancing and hand hygiene.

“We all have to play our part in the battle against the coronavirus. We are also calling on the international community to #ACTogether to ensure a level playing field in relation to access to vaccines, treatments and diagnostic tests across the globe,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said during a video conference prior to the kick-off of the FIFA Club World Cup.

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, thanked FIFA and the players for helping raise awareness on life saving interventions that all people can follow, and of the importance of intensified global support for the ACT Accelerator to ramp up development and equitable allocation of vaccines, treatments and tests to reduce severe disease and deaths caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

“Fairness is the foundation of football and all other sports, and this also must be the same when it comes to health,” said Dr. Ghebreyesus. “The rules of the COVID-19 challenge are simple: all people at risk from the coronavirus in all countries must have equitable access to life-saving vaccines, treatments and diagnostics. In just nine months, the world has established these three powerful lines of defence against COVID-19. But our goal now is to ensure equitable access and continued refinement of these tools.

“WHO is grateful to FIFA for teaming up with health partners around the world to promote the need for the fair distribution of the tools needed to defeat the coronavirus,” added Dr. Ghebreyesus.

The new FIFA-WHO collaboration will amplify life-saving messages to a global audience with a series of promotional videos being broadcast during the FIFA Club World Cup. In the videos, competing club captains reiterate the key steps for everyone to follow in order to tackle and defeat the coronavirus by focusing on hands, elbow, face, distance, symptoms, masks and opening windows.

“It is important that we do not forget that health comes first,” said Infantino. “Only by following the advice of our medical professionals will we be able to eliminate the threat posed by COVID-19, and I call upon everyone to follow these steps in their daily lives. This advice not only protects you, but also protects your loved ones and those around you. In delivering these messages during the FIFA Club World Cup, I appreciate the support given by the participating teams and their players, coaching staff and other officials in respecting the protocols that need to be followed in order to play this tournament, and to ensure that we keep the football flame flickering brightly during these challenging times.”

The video awareness campaign will feature players and head coaches from the competing teams at the FIFA Club World Cup Qatar 2020 together with FIFA Legends, and will be published on various FIFA, WHO and club digital channels, with the support of broadcasters worldwide.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — COVAX, a coalition led by WHO and Gavi to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, has notified St. Kitts and Nevis and other countries in the Americas of the estimated dose allocation for the first phase of vaccine delivery in a letter to health authorities, the Pan American Health Organization reported.

Thirty-six countries and territories participating in COVAX received letters about the estimated number of doses of AstraZeneca vaccine that they could be receiving from the second half of February through the second quarter of 2021.

The AstraZeneca vaccine is still under review by WHO for emergency use approval (EUL), which is expected to occur in the next few days. The number of doses and delivery schedule is still subject to EUL and manufacturing production capacity, as well as establishing supply agreements between the producers, PAHO, and UNICEF. According to the COVAX statement, it is estimated that around 35.3 million doses will be arriving in the Americas in this first stage.

“With more than 45 million confirmed cases and more than one million deaths, countries and territories throughout the Americas, particularly the poorest among them, are experiencing an unprecedented health, economic and social crisis,” said PAHO Director Carissa F. Etienne.

The start of vaccine delivery through the COVAX mechanism is a hopeful step in the fight against this virus and PAHO is proud to facilitate an effort that is urgently needed for our region.”

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GENEVA — Today, four-in-ten of the world’s deaths are unregistered and in the African region, only one-in-ten deaths is currently recorded, according to the first ever global assessment of country health information systems released today by the World Health Organization in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Two-thirds of low-income countries have established a standardized system to report causes of deaths. However, the SCORE Report highlights the urgent need to strengthen these systems to help the world respond to health emergencies and track progress towards global health goals.

The pandemic has highlighted that even the most advanced health and data systems still struggle to provide data in near real-time in order to act swiftly. The lack of data worldwide limits the understanding of the true mortality impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, undermining response planning.

“The pandemic has stretched the capacity of country health information systems around the world, as they must track both the disease and other critical health trends,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “The SCORE report is an important step towards better data, for better decisions and better health.”

Estimates show that 60 percent of the countries reviewed have a well-developed system for reviewing progress and performance of their health sector and only half have the capacity to monitor quality of care. Only 32 percent of the countries have good capacity for a national digital health strategy based on recommended standards.

“With SCORE at hand, WHO will support countries around the world to address data gaps and strengthen their data and health information systems,” said Dr Samira Asma, Assistant Director-General, for Data, Analytics and Delivery.

Although, there is good availability of data on areas such as immunization, tuberculosis and HIV incidence, there is less coverage on health issues such as mental health and cancer. Less than half of countries report national facility data on severe mental health disorders.

This lack of data severely limits countries in their ability to plan and implement effective health programmes.

“The SCORE report guides countries to invest in priority areas with the greatest impact on the collection, analysis and use of health data. Among other recommendations the report urges countries to strengthen their overall health data systems, to improve their death data registration systems and to collect more and better quality data to address inequalities,” said Michael Bloomberg, WHO Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases and Injuries.

The report and the portal are part of WHO’s SCORE for Health Data Technical Package that will support countries and regions to view their assessments, conduct analyses, and improve health data for healthier populations.

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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – ‘Our Tribute, appreciation and farewell service’ to honour Rev. Hilton Joseph and his wife, Sister Sharon McCardy-Joseph was held on Friday evening January 29 at the Zion Moravian Church in Basseterre. The event featured an evening of songs, solos and spiritual expression.

Rev. Hilton Joseph is the Superintendent of the Moravian Church St. Kitts Conference and Pastor of the Zion and Bethel Pastorate. He is originally from Antigua and Barbuda and has accepted a call to serve as the Pastor of the Spring Gardens Moravian Church in Antigua effective March 1.

The service was attended by Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris; Deputy Prime Minister the Hon. Shawn Richards; Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs et al the Hon. Eugene Hamilton; Cabinet Secretary Mrs. Josephine Huggins; Accountant General Mr Levi Bradshaw; and other senior government officials.

The evening’s colourful proceedings were led by Rev. Onita Samuel-Warner and Rev. Adelyn Binta Mgonela under the broad sub-theme from Matthew 5:17 ‘Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine’.

In the ‘Thanksgiving and Gifting’ section of ‘Our Tribute’, representatives from all the Moravian churches in St. Kitts, and the Moravian Church St. Kitts Conference came bearing gifts, which they presented to Rev. Hilton Joseph and Sister Sharon McCardy-Joseph.

Bethesda/New Dawn Moravian Church in Cayon was represented by Sister Verna Lewis; Ebenezer Moravian Church in Mansion was represented by Brother Levi Bradshaw; Bethel Moravian Church in Parsons Ground was represented by Sister Ileta Barnes; home church Zion Moravia was represented by Sister Emelita Warner-Paul; while Sister Sherlene Johnson and Sister Jamilla Connor represented the Moravian Church St. Kitts Conference.

Brother Levi Bradshaw represented Ebenezer Moravian, he expressed sincere appreciation and thanks to Rev Hilton Joseph and Sister Sharon McCardy. He spoke on behalf of the Accountant General Department, Ministry of Finance, Government of St. Kitts and Nevis. Bradshaw serves as the Federation’s Accountant General.

“Sharon was a member of the staff of the Accountant General Department, Ministry of Finance, for the entire time of her stay here in St. Kitts and she was a valuable asset to the Ministry of Finance, Debt Management Unit,” said Mr Bradshaw. “I want to express my thanks to both of them and wish them well in their future endeavours.”

In response, Rev. Joseph noted that as a newly married couple hopeful in God, they had embarked on a journey to a new territory called St. Kitts and Nevis in July 2008 without a clue what was before them, but they decided to trust God where they could not trace Him, which they made the default setting of their lives over the years.

“As a result our lives are better today, and we give God thanks in everything,” said Rev. Joseph. “Therefore, tonight is about the sovereignty of God, of a God who has led us and enabled us on this journey to be conduits of His grace, His mercy, and His love.”

Sister Sharon McCardy-Joseph told the congregation that they have been privileged to have entered the lives of a wide cross section of persons from every strata of society, pushing on to become better for God.

“We have been honoured to have been a part of this nation building,” said Sister McCardy-Joseph. “We realise now that God strategically placed us to be an influence for Him. For that we give Him all the glory. Our hands have been healed, our feet have been healed, our minds have been healed; in Him we move and breathe and we are grateful to be His vessel and to be used as He desires.”

Rev. Joseph thanked his family and friends who had become family. The Executive Board and the organisers of ‘Our Tribute’ event noting that they were indeed humbled by the details, sense of the preparation, and sense of the energy that would have been put in to make it a reality.

“My esteemed colleagues, the members of this powerhouse of a Moravian Church St. Kitts Conference, the gracious Government and people of this Federation, we say thank you,” said Rev Joseph, as Sister McCardy-Joseph added: “Thank you for welcoming us into your space and enabling us to work in this part of God’s bountiful vineyard.”

Jointly, Rev Joseph and Sister McCardy-Joseph declared: “Our bodies will leave but our memories remain and we say, God bless you all and God bless Liamuiga, this fertile land of St. Christopher and Nevis – oh Land of Beauty!”

At the end of the service, Rev Hilton Joseph prayed for Reverend Erwin Warner who will serve as the acting Superintendent of the Moravian Church St. Kitts Conference and continue as the Pastor of the Bethesda/New Dawn Pastorate, Reverend Onita Samuel-Warner who will serve as the Pastor of the Zion and Bethel Pastorate, and Reverend Adelyn Binta Mgonela who serves as the Pastor of the Ebenezer Pastorate.

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It has been almost two weeks since America placed itself under new management, and the world is already feeling better.  January 20th ushered light into a period of darkness, not only with the inauguration of the Presidential team, but also the staging of the poet laureate!

America has re-entered the world arena. It rejoined the World Health Organisation and the Paris Accord on climate change. It re-embarked on environmental conscious with the cancellation of the Keystone Pipeline project, it became more tolerant with the reversal of the ban on Muslims and it became more welcoming to immigrants, with no talk about the Wall.  It is also proposing to use softer language, replacing the word “alien” with “non-citizen” when referring to immigrants.

We are struck, though, that so many persons responded to Trump’s call to travel to Washington and to march, mostly mask-less to the Capitol. And now that they are being arrested and charged, they have been disavowed by the leader for whom they risked so much. Not even the pardon that they asked for has been granted.   

The Trump supporters should realise by now that the former president cannot and will not help them; they have all been thrown under the bus. But only after he bilked them out of $70M.

President Biden has offered to be the president of all Americans.  He has no choice.  The question is whether all Americans will allow him to be their president, up to accepting the covid relief money that some of them so desperately need.  

Buses, political ones, are all over the place. There one in St Kitts ran over the 2015 Supervisor of Elections. He is the only one facing Court charges arising out of the 2015 elections while his supposed manipulators walked away free. 

There is a way to avoid such vehicular incidents. Employees must know and understand their role and do their job without favour and according to law. 

At the end of the day, politicians – especially those who lost – are powerless, and often unwilling  to help. They often walk away unscathed.

For many of us, it is a hard lesson to learn.

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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — The Federation of St. Kitts & Nevis continues to experience a gradual increase in the number of positive cases of COVID-19. As of Saturday, January 30 the Federation has confirmed one additional case of coronavirus disease.

The international traveller landed in the Federation on January 16, 2021 from the United States.

The patient has been in quarantine at one of the COVID-19 certified hotels since arrival. The patient was duly notified and is now in isolation.

This additional case brings the total number of COVID-19 confirmed cases to 38, with 26 cases for St. Kitts and 12 cases for Nevis. Please note that 35 cases have fully recovered with zero deaths.

There are now three active cases. These patients are stable and are being monitored. The risk of further cases occurring in the Federation remains very high.

We continue to adhere to the ‘St. Kitts and Nevis Health and Travel Protocols, which can be found at https://www.knatravelform.kn.

All front-line workers continue to adhere to the COVID-19 protocols along the corridor of containment between the ports of entry and hotel/accommodation sites.

The Ministry of Health wishes to assure the public that the following measures are being taken to restrict the spread of coronavirus:
• In-depth contact tracing to effectively assess the front-line workers with whom the recently diagnosed cases would have interacted.
• Quarantine, monitoring and testing of contacts as indicated.

The Ministry of Health and Federal Government assure all citizens and residents that every effort is being made to prevent the spread of this virus locally.

With reports of the SARS -CoV-2 variant in the region and with increase in cases locally more and more persons are adhering to the COVID-19 prevention and control measures.
• These include:
• Wearing a face mask when in public places:
• Maintaining good hand hygiene;
• Maintaining physical distance of at least 6-feet from others when in public places; and
• Avoiding crowd s and events.

These control measures work, and we are encouraging you to continue. Let us work together to maintain and protect the health and well-being of the people of the Federation.

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