MINISTRY OF HEALTH URGES RESIDENTS TO STAY CALM AND SAFE AS INFLUENZA SEASON PICKS UP

Basseterre, St. Kitts, January 21, 2021 (SKNIS): Health authorities in St. Kitts and Nevis are noting a gradual increase in the number of persons exhibiting flu-like symptoms. However, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Hazel Laws said that this is common as the country is in the midst of the influenza season that typically runs from October to April.

“We want to reassure the public there is no need to get fearful or be alarmed that they have COVID. Remember that we are in the middle of the influenza season and so my recommendation to you is if you are experiencing the symptoms of the flu, make contact with your regular physician,” CMO Laws advised during the National Emergency Operations Centre COVID-19 Briefing on Wednesday (January 20, 2021).

Some of the symptoms being reported include sore throat, runny nose, redness of the eye, malaise, and fatigue. Experts note that persons with flu are considered to be most contagious in the first three to four days after the illness starts. As such, Dr. Laws urged persons to contact their physician.

“I am not sending you to your doctor’s office,” she stated. “Please call, send a WhatsApp message to your primary care physician, explain your symptoms and he or she will make the appropriate recommendations in terms of your management.”

To avoid getting the flu persons were encouraged to continue practicing the measures that have proven effective against the novel coronavirus.

“If you wear your facemasks in public places, if you are impacted by the flu, you won’t pass it,  and if you wear your facemask that would protect you too from picking up the general regular influenza that we usually experience at this time of year,” Dr. Laws said.  
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