MOST COVID-19 INFECTIONS ARE WITH THE UNVACCINATED, WHO TAKES LONGER TO RECOVER—CMO DR. LAWS

Basseterre, St. Kitts, September 09, 2021 (SKNIS): As the third wave of COVID-19 infections continues across St. Kitts and Nevis, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr. Hazel Laws indicated during the September 08, 2021 NEOC COVID-19 Press Briefing that most of the active cases are unvaccinated and have shown a longer recovery time. The CMO further stated that the key to COVID-19 recovery is ensuring that persons who have tested positive remain in contact with their caseworker in order to better combat the infection.
 
“If you are fully vaccinated and you are diagnosed with COVID-19, the duration of your illness tends to be shorter, anywhere between 7-12 days before you get your recovery test. Now, if you are unvaccinated—most of our cases are unvaccinated—your recovery period is longer and you will be in isolation for about 14 plus days. You will be tested and once you get two consecutive negative tests you will be deemed recovered and officially released from isolation. If you are a contact of a case and you are unvaccinated you are automatically quarantined for 14 days.  You will get an initial test at the beginning of the quarantine period, and then you will get a second test at the end of the quarantine period,” said CMO Dr Laws. 
 
The CMO further outlined that if a person is fully vaccinated and comes into contact with a positive case, the Ministry of Health will monitor that person for a period of 7 days which includes testing and possible isolation. Persons who are currently positive for COVID-19 were also urged to remain in contact with their caseworkers in an effort to ensure a speedy recovery.
 
“To the 1310 active cases that we are currently monitoring, each active case is assigned a case manager who contacts them on a daily basis. We want each person to remain connected to their case manager so if by chance your condition changes or deteriorates we want persons to reach out to their case managers as soon as possible so that you can be transferred to the emergency room and stabilized. So, this is very, very important,” said CMO Dr. Hazel Laws.
 
The Ministry of Health has had a successful COVID-19 vaccination programme, as of September 09, 2021, 74.7 percent of the target population have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine with another 21,916 persons being fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The Ministry of Health continues to urge persons to get vaccinated, with both the Oxford AstraZeneca and Pfizer -BioNTech vaccines available in St. Kitts and Nevis.