Basseterre, St. Kitts (May 18, 2020) – St. Kitts & Nevis is pleased to announce that, as of today, all
15 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 in the Federation have
successfully recovered from the virus with 0 deaths. St. Kitts &
Nevis was the last country in the Americas to confirm a case of the
virus and among the first to report all cases having recovered with no
deaths.
“An
important milestone was reached today with the recovery of all 15
persons testing positive for COVID-19. This demonstrates the
unprecedented achievements by St. Kitts & Nevis and the Caribbean
region in containing and controlling the spread of the virus,” said
Minister of Tourism the Hon. Lindsay F.P. Grant. “I am gratified that
our Federation’s ‘all society approach’ starting with early and
aggressive actions, the excellent work of our medical community and the
cooperation of all persons in the Federation have brought us to this
place. However, at this time we must continue to remain vigilant with
our mitigation procedures in place for everyone to remain safe.”
With
the advice of the Chief Medical Officer, the Medical Chief of Staff and
medical experts St. Kitts initiated a comprehensive operational
response including an early and aggressive quarantine, testing and
contact tracing program that has proven to be successful. It has been 29
days since the last case was reported. As such, Government has begun to
ease restrictions to allow for more economic activity and for citizens
to have more exercise time outside their homes.
Federation
has succeeded in flattening the curve, however, with the advice of our
medical experts, the borders remain closed. Everyone is advised to
exercise precautions and adhere to the regulations and measures put in
place to ensure the safety and health of all residents and citizens,
even as restrictions have begun to be incrementally relaxed in the
Federation and around the Caribbean.
Therefore, limited curfews remain in effect as follows:
Limited
curfew (relaxed restrictions wherein persons may leave their residence
go to work, to shop for essential items but curfews in effect every
night):
- Tuesday, May 19 through Friday, May 22 from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Beaches
will be open from 5:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. for swimming and exercising
only with the social distancing measures of remaining at least 6 feet
apart in full effect with the exception of persons living in the same
household.
In
addition to reporting that all 15 confirmed positive cases have
recovered with 0 deaths, a total of 391 persons have been tested for
COVID-19 to date, 15 of whom tested positive with 373 persons tested
negative and 3 test results pending. 1 person is currently quarantined
in a government facility while 1 person is quarantined at home and 0
persons are in isolation. A total of 813 persons have been released from
quarantine. St. Kitts & Nevis has one of the highest testing rates
in CARICOM and the Eastern Caribbean and uses only the molecular tests
which are the gold standard of testing.
St. Kitts & Nevis’ medical experts further advise that all persons who need to be tested have been tested at this time.
Going forward, we hope everyone, and their families remain safe and healthy.
For more information on COVID-19, please visit www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019, www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html and/or http://carpha.org/What-We-Do/Public-Health/Novel-Coronavirus.