Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 20, 2021 (SKNIS): In the interest of public health and safety, Superintendent of Police, Cromwell Henry, announced that the Commissioner of Police acting on the advice of the National COVID-19 Task Force has decided to cancel all approved events immediately until further notice.
The announcement was made at the May 19 National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) Emergency COVID-19 Press Briefing, which revealed that St. Kitts and Nevis recorded its 46th case of the virus. The one (1) active case is that of a hotel employee who has had no travel history outside of the Federation.
Superintendent Henry noted that the relevant authorities have activated the country’s aggressive contact tracing mechanism.
“The Ministry of Health is presently engaged in a comprehensive contact tracing exercise to identify possible contacts of the latest COVID-19 case. These contacts will be placed in quarantine in an effort to contain or prevent the spread of the virus. We solicit the full cooperation of the public in this exercise,” he said. “The Police and Defence Forces are mandated to provide support to the Ministry of Health, and we stand ready to ensure that they discharge or are allowed to discharge their responsibility in the interest of public health.
He urged the general public to remain calm and to continue to adhere to all COVID-19 health and safety protocols that were implemented to safeguard everyone.
“We further advise that all persons adhere to all the non-pharmaceutical COVID-19 prevention measures as stipulated in the COVID -19 Prevention and Control Act. These are the wearing of masks in public, maintaining the physical distance of six (6) feet, good hand hygiene practices, and avoiding crowds and crowded places,” he said.
Passengers travelling on public transportation are also encouraged to adhere to the health and safety protocols as they are “particularly vulnerable to spread of the virus due to the close seating arrangements in these vehicles.”
“You are therefore strongly advised to observe the provisions of the Covid-19 Prevention and Control Act, which require the driver and all passengers to wear masks for the duration of the journey, and maintain open windows if weather conditions permit. Further, passengers entering these vehicles should be hand sanitized upon entry and the seats and other high touch surfaces of the vehicles should be sanitized before and after each trip.
Superintendent Henry said that the COVID-19 Compliance Team will strictly enforce the laws “to ensure that the public health measures are complied with especially at business establishments and other public spaces.”
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