DR. WILKINSON STRONGLY OPPOSES REVEALING THE POSITIVE STATUS OF COVID-19 PATIENTS AS A MATTER OF MEDICAL ETHICS

Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 28, 2021 (SKNIS): Medical Chief of Staff at the Joseph N. France General Hospital, Dr. Cameron Wilkinson, explained that names of COVID-19 patients are not revealed to the public to protect these persons against scorn, discrimination, and victimization. Additionally, he said it is a case of upholding professional medical ethical practice.

Speaking during the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) COVID-19 Briefing on May 26, Dr. Wilkinson said, “The reason why we tell you in this pandemic that you need to wear a mask, you need to social distance, and you need to sanitize is that you need to assume that everyone is positive and by assuming that everyone is positive you can decrease the spread of the virus if you happen to go in contact with anyone who has the virus.”

“And so, there is absolutely no reason why one needs to know the 15 or 16 persons who happen to have been confirmed to have COVID-19,” he added.

He further explained that though there have been confirmed cases, there might be some persons who are not confirmed and so you need to assume that everyone has the virus.

“I can also tell you too that the persons who do the contact tracing, have sufficient information when they come in to interview the persons who would have been confirmed to do the necessary contact tracing without putting the person’s name out there in the public for the public to come and give us information,” said Dr. Wilkinson.

“What we need to know now is that the virus is back. We have persons here who are positive, and you need to do what is necessary to contain the virus and so your personal individual responsibility is what you need to do in terms of decreasing the spread, but you don’t personally have to know the details of these persons,” said Medical Chief of Staff Dr. Wilkinson. -30-