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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, May 29, 2021 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – Over the past several days, more than seven hundred (700) persons in St. Kitts, including primary and secondary school students, were impacted one way or another as a result of the Government’s robust and diligent contact-tracing exercises following the recent discovery of a cluster of positive cases in the Federation.

DuringFriday’s (May 28) COVID-19 media briefing by the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC), the Chief Medical Officer Dr. Hazel Laws announced that there are currently 23 active cases of the virus in the Federation, with four of those cases being confirmed earlier on Friday. 

Thefour most recent cases, all of whom are nationals, are linked to cases that were recently reported. 

PrimeMinister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris, who lent his support to the National COVID-19 Task Force at Friday’s NEOC media briefing, expressed empathy with the individuals who are impacted by the cluster of positive cases. 

Thehonourable prime minister urged other citizens and residents to see this development as a wake up call to the seriousness of the virus and how important it is for all of us to play our role in containing the spread of COVID-19. 

“The over 700 plus persons who have been part of the exercise of contact tracing over the last few days, many of them were unsuspecting in terms of never anticipated that they could be caught in some way with respect to the COVID-19. That is a wake up call for all of us,” said Prime Minister Harris.

Thereare approximately 760 persons currently in quarantine and isolation as a result of the contact tracing exercises. Of the 760 individuals, 63 are isolated or quarantined at COVID-19 certified facilities while the other 697 have been asked to self-quarantine.

Dr. Harris added, “Whether you are a child going to the primary school, or we are a parent, or we are nurses and doctors it really doesn’t matter, any one of us and all of us are at risk and the only way we can reduce that risk is to ensure that all of us are vaccinated.”

Thelast several days have seen a drastic uptake in the number of persons stepping forward to be vaccinated. At the close of day on Friday, May 28, a total of 26,038 persons had received at least their first dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine. This represents 57.2 percent of the Government’s target population to reach herd immunity in St. Kitts and Nevis.