St Kitts and Nevis: Science will influence changes in COVID-19 entry rules, says CMO Laws

St Kitts and Nevis: Physicians in the twin-island Federation are not expecting any change in the entry rules due to COVID-19 to the Federation at this time, given as the world has been witnessing a surge in COVID-19 cases around the world.

Dr Hazel Laws, Chief Medical Officer, addressed the problem on Wednesday (June 29) during a Cabinet Press Conference and mentioned that the decision-making process is driven by scientific data.

“The Federation welcomed around 4,402 inbound air travelers between June 16 and 26, to the Federation. The proportion of Fifty-four from which these individuals came from the United States of America. On noticing the data, the US is facing an increase in COVID-19 cases driven by the BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variant of the Omicron (variant),” Dr Laws stated.

She said that the United Kingdom, and Europe, are too experiencing an upsurge in cases. Additionally, St Kitts and Nevis has accounted for 100 confirmed cases of COVID-19 between the period June 27 and 29, 2022.

The entry rules have been guided by the data and the latest information, so it is not right to make a change at this time. The most significant thing to consider is to contain this present wave of COVID-19 infections prior to (any) consideration of change.

Dr Cameron Wilkinson, Joseph N France General Hospital’s Medical Chief, witnessed that the COVID entry protocols are a barrier to the importation of the virus. He noted that many doctors and nurses are currently suffering from COVID-19 and containing the number of cases that are essential to ensure the health system is not overwhelmed.

“The guidance given by the World Health Organization (WHO) has clearly mentioned that there is no one size fits all approach to this lethal pandemic, and so when a person speaks about the US lifting their entry requirements and why can’t St Kitts and Nevis do that, we have to take our healthcare system as well as the financial situation into consideration here,” Dr Wilkinson outlined.