BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, 29th March, 2020 (SKNIS)–A 34-member delegation of health specialists from the Republic of Cuba arrived at the RLB International Airport in St. Kitts on Saturday March 28, 2020, to assist the Government in strengthening its health sector in the fight against COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus 2019).
The delegation, which comprises 30 nurses and four doctors, trained in Intensive Care Medicine, was greeted at the airport by Minister of State with Responsibility for Health, the Honourable Wendy C. Phipps, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Delores Stapleton-Harris and Medical Chief of Staff at the Joseph Nathaniel France (JNF) General Hospital, Dr. Cameron Wilkinson. Resident Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba to St. Kitts and Nevis, His Excellency Abelardo Fabio Hernandez Ferrer, was also on hand to meet the health experts.
28 of the specialists will be deployed in St. Kitts and six (6) will be employed in Nevis.
Minister Phipps on welcoming the delegation expressed her gratitude on behalf of the Government and people of St. Kitts and Nevis, and by extension the Ministry of Health, for the help that the Government and people of the Republic of Cuba have offered to the Federation. She continued to implore residents and citizens to play their part in stemming the transmission of the virus.
Likewise, Dr. Wilkinson extended his gratitude.
“This will help bridge the gap that we have to help us fight the COVID-19 disease…I am a physician and as a physician on the forefront, I love my country and I signed up knowing that we might pay the ultimate sacrifice, which is with our lives,” said the Medical Chief of Staff.
“For these persons to leave their foreign country to come and fight this vicious disease knowing that they will pay that sacrifice for us, we all should be grateful and so I want every Kittitian and Nevisian to be very thankful for what we are experiencing here today,” Dr. Wilkinson added.
St. Kitts and Nevis to date has two confirmed cases of COVID-19 and no deaths.
On Saturday, March 28, 2020, Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris announced a State of Emergency for the entire country for 14 days starting March 28 from 7pm to 5am each day. The prime minister said it was important to do this to protect the lives of every citizen and resident, while calling on all to observe the curfew for the public good.
