AS ST. KITTS AND NEVIS PREPARES FOR COVID-19, IT REACHES OUT IN SOLIDARITY TO COUNTRIES HEAVILY IMPACTED BY THE PANDEMIC

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, March 21, 2020 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris, has expressed sympathy and the solidarity of the Government of the twin island Federation with several countries that are severely impacted by the outbreak of the COVID-19, also known as the novel coronavirus, even while the country prepares although there has been no confirmed case to date.

In a letter dated March 17 to Italian Prime Minister, His Excellency Giuseppe Conte, Prime Minister Harris expressed sincere condolences “for the enormous loss of lives of Italians as a consequence of this infectious viral disease and wish speedy recovery to all injected.”

“Excellency, our hearts and prayers are with the people of your great country as your experts continue to work feverishly to arrest this pandemic and minimize the loss of lives and reduce the number of infected persons within your country and elsewhere,” the prime minister added.

Italy’s death toll from the coronavirus overtook that of China, where the virus first emerged, on Thursday with more than 4,000 confirmed deaths.

The St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister also wrote to his United Kingdom counterpart, the Right Hon. Boris Johnson, in which he also expressed solidarity in light of the global outbreak of the COVID-19 “that continues to disrupt lives and economies the world over.”

Dr. Harris stated, “Regrettably Sir, we have had to adopt the approach that is being taken by most Governments, and have enacted a travel advisory for several countries, including the United Kingdom, which will result in travelers from this destination being quarantined for a mandatory 14 days after port screening. As we continue to monitor the evolution of this pandemic, Saint Kitts and Nevis will accordingly update the travel advisory in the interest of protecting the lives of the global community.”

Prime Minister Harris also reached out to the President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, as close to 100 persons across the USA have died from the virus.

The honourable prime minister said, “Please accept Mr. President, the assurances of my highest consideration and best wishes to your Government and people, as we all continue to work collaboratively to control and mitigate the expansion of this deadly virus.”

To date, over 298,000 persons have been infected by the COVID-19 virus with more than 12,000 deaths worldwide and over 94, 000 recovered from the disease.