'We're Surging on St. Croix Right Now,' Dept. of Health Says as Island Records 62 New Cases in Past

'We're Surging on St. Croix Right Now,' Dept. of Health Says as Island Records 62 New Cases in Past Week


The V.I. Dept. of Health on Friday held a press briefing to address what it said was surging Covid-19 cases on the island of St. Croix during the week beginning March 12-18. The department said there were 81 new positive Covid-19 cases territory-wide during that time, with St. Croix accounting for sixty-two to St. Thomas's nineteen. During that time period, 2,001 people were tested, which brought the territory's seven-day positivity rate to 4 percent.

D.O.H. Territorial Epidemiologist Dr. Esther Ellis described the recent spike in cases as "alarming," and encouraged Virgin Islanders to take any of the three vaccines available in the territory: the Moderna, the Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the latter which only requires one dose compared to the two doses needed for the Moderna and Pfizer shots.

Dr. Ellis said the new spike in cases are linked to persons who remain unvaccinated. "If you are not fully vaccinated you cannot take your guard down at this time," Dr. Ellis said. "The recent increase in new cases is a reminder that you must be vigilant when you're outside your household, especially if you live with someone who is immunocompromised or elderly." She encouraged residents to continue wearing masks, washing hands and social distancing, adding, "The quicker we can get the territory vaccinated, the quicker we can get past this very long year."

D.O.H. Medical Director, Dr. Tai Hunte-Caesar, was blunt. "Bottomline is we're surging right now on St. Croix. It is extremely difficult to get a handle on the management of this infection when it really just impacts a tremendous amount of people without any discrimination," she said.

Read more: https://viconsortium.com/vi-coronavirus/virgin-islands-were-surging-on-st-croix-right-now-dept-of-health-says-as-islands-records-62-new-cases-in-past-week