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Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 21, 2021 (SKNIS): St. Kitts and Nevis’ Chief Medical Officer Dr. Hazel Laws says that the 20 persons identified as close contacts with the new COVID-19 case are in isolation.

Dr. Laws stated during the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) COVID-19 Briefing on May 20 that “the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis would have reported a total of 46 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the latest case, case 46 was identified yesterday (19 May).”

“This individual is in stable condition and is in isolation,” she said. “The individual works in the housekeeping department at a local hotel and is a national without a travel history.”

She said that it was also important to note that the patient has not been vaccinated.

Dr. Laws also said that this case is probably the first case in a cluster of cases and because of this possibility, the Public Health team is engaged in a robust contact tracing.

This contact tracing involves identifying, assessing, and managing people who may have been exposed to COVID-19 to prevent onward transmission, she said.

“When this process is systematically applied, the hope and the aim is to break the chains of transmission and contain this possible wave of COVID-19 infections,” said Dr. Laws.

She continued, “based on the science, a contact is a person who has had any one of the following exposures to a probable or confirmed case: face-to-face interaction with a confirmed case within one meter meaning you would have interacted with the individual one meter apart or less and for a duration of 15 minutes or over.”

Additionally, she said a contact person is a person who has had direct physical contact with the individual who was diagnosed with COVID-19.

The Chief Medical Officer said that currently, the National COVID-19 Task Force is awaiting lab results from the twenty close contacts and other individuals from the local hotel where the individual is employed.