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Basseterre, St. Kitts, December 11, 2021 (SKNIS): Organizers hosting social events in St. Kitts and Nevis inside a building or stadium are reminded to adhere to the stipulations in the Statutory Rules and Orders No. 43 of 2021 that require a maximum of 75 percent capacity with one person for every six square feet.

The measure set by health authorities is a key strategy to mitigate against the spread of the COVID-19 virus. At the December 08, 2021, COVID-19 Briefing by the National Emergency Operations Centre, Dr. Cameron Wilkinson, Medical Chief of Staff of the Joseph N. France General Hospital, said it’s all about managing risk to keep the population safe.

“We are still in the middle of a pandemic,” he said. “Yes, when you get vaccinated, you have significant protection, but there can still be breakthrough infections. And so having the capacity limit is to allow persons to still be able to socially distance such that they can decrease their risk of exposure if there is an asymptomatic carrier within that crowd.”

The gradual easing of restrictions is in keeping with previous actions taken by the National COVID-19 Task Force. As the number of vaccination persons increased, so to did the number of allowances for events.

“We had a situation where we had no mass events, to caps on the numbers, to caps on the percentage capacity and now we are up to a 75 percent capacity,” Dr. Wilkinson stated.

He encouraged more persons to go out to the nearest health clinic to take a jab of a COVID-19 vaccine, which offers significant protection from severe illness or death. Booster shots are also offered to persons who received a jab more than six months ago.

Statistics from the Ministry of Health indicate that as of December 09, 2021, a total of 53,711 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine were administered in St. Kitts and Nevis. A further breakdown reveals that 80.8 percent of adults have received the first dose while 74.4 percent completed the two jab regimen. Additionally, 15.0 percent of children between the ages of 12 and 17-years-old have received a vaccine dose, while 12.7 percent have had a second dose of a life-saving vaccine.