Vincentians are being urged not to become complacent during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as not to become too secure with the number of cases currently in SVG.
During a media conference today, Medical Officer of Health Dr Roger Duncan warned that the island’s positivity rate is trending upwards.
He warned that it is only a matter of time that St Vincent and the Grenadines could encounter a possible community spread of the delta variant.
Duncan’s warning came on the heels of the Minister of Health’s concerns about creeping complacency among the population.
Minister St Clair Prince reminded that SVG has three confirmed imported cases of the delta variant with six more samples sent for testing to CARPHA.
The health minister stated that it is a worrying development as too much complacency has been observed in some quarters of the population and aggressive resistance in others.
Prince said now is an excellent opportunity to take the COVID vaccine as he urged citizens not to wait until there is a n outbreak and the health services become overwhelmed as observed in some other countries.
On Monday, SVG recorded 12 new cases increasing its number of active cases to 35.
The Minister pointed out some areas of concern in SVG:
Increasing positivity rates and absolute numbers
Decreasing compliance with mask wearing, physical distancing and hand sanitising
Alarming trends of mass gatherings
Low vaccine uptake
Disinformation- reports of deaths due to the vaccine in St Vincent and the Grenadines are incorrect
Prince added that the COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V component one is available to the population and arrangements have been made for component two which will arrive in the country shortly.
To date, SVG has administered over 30,000 doses of the COVID vaccine, where 19,000 have received a first dose and 11,823 their second dose.
The health minister said these numbers are not nearly enough and SVG needs to do better
1 Comment
The ULP government has never put health care as a priority. There idea of health is to build massive and beautiful building but neglect the softer- less VISIBLE essential aspects of health care. What they are offerring in clinic , I could have ask my neighbourhood nurse to do gor me in my own house as a favour. Shouldn’t bragging about health care be a little more?
Our dear PM head injury really put things into perseptive. Lack of APPROPRIATE diagnotic tools. Lack of MRI, PET, high powered microscopes, quslity drugs- not the 1st gen. outdated ones being prescribed. Poor cancer patients still being given tamoxifen!
Dear Hon.PM, instead of spending $20 million building another PHYSICAL hospital, please take that same money and invest in good quality medications( drug therapy) and some diagnotic devices.
Poor people like me don’t have money to fly out eveytime I am sick. I am spending my strength helping to build this country, you taking out money for my retirement but if health care is poor , if I get sick, I might not live to see retirement.