Author: SKNISEditor

Basseterre, St. Kitts, December 23, 2020 (SKNIS): Christmas day is just two days away in St. Kitts and Nevis, but citizens and residents are already in a festive move having participated in many virtual, and limited seating events, as well as small gatherings with friends or family. The expectation is for this trend to continue through to January 02, 2021, as that date traditionally signals the end of the annual Carnival season. Carnival is now virtual, but in some corners, the celebrations are not. Minister of Health, the Honourable Akilah Byron-Nisbett, strongly encouraged individuals to celebrate the season within the context of…

Basseterre, St. Kitts, December 23, 2020 (SKNIS): British Airways (BA) flights between the United Kingdom (UK) and the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis have been suspended for two weeks, from Saturday, December 26, 2020, to Saturday, January 2, 2021, as a safety measure after a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 Virus (Novel Coronavirus) was discovered in the United Kingdom. The announcement was made at the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) COVID-19 Briefing on December 23, 2020, by Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Hazel Laws. The Federation joins several other countries worldwide in instituting the suspension to monitor the situation so as not to…

Basseterre, St. Kitts, December 24, 2020 (SKNIS): The Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs handed over food and gift packages to benefit the less fortunate in society as part of an initiative to spread goodwill and cheer during the Christmas Season.The packages were handed over to officials within the Ministry of Social Development at a brief ceremony at Government Headquarters on Thursday, December 24, 2020. It was the decision of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs and staff to “forego our annual Christmas Luncheon and gift exchange and instead to use our resources to purchase food and toys…

Basseterre, St. Kitts, December 24, 2020 (SKNIS): St. Kitts and Nevis has the lowest rate of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Caribbean and the lowest COVID-19 risk in the hemisphere. This was announced by Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Hazel Laws, during the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) COVID-19 Press Briefing on December 23. She highlighted that this is a notable achievement. “At this time of year when you want to interact with friends and loved ones, we can move around in St. Kitts and Nevis without too much of a fear with respect to being exposed to the virus,” she said.…

Basseterre, St. Kitts, December 24, 2020 (SKNIS): A new vaccine from Moderna has come on stream to protect individuals from contracting COVID-19, says Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Hazel Laws, during the December 23rd National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) COVID-19 Press Briefing.This Moderna vaccine is highly protective against COVID-19 and has been approved for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), reported Dr. Laws. However, she said emergency authorization is not the same as a full approval. It allows an experimental vaccine to be used if there is evidence that its potential benefits outweigh its risks, while more data is collected…

Basseterre, St. Kitts, December 23, 2020 (SKNIS): Persons travelling to St. Kitts and Nevis must complete a 14-day quarantine period before they are allowed to integrate freely within the society. There are no exceptions, the Minister of Health said on Tuesday (December 22, 2020) not even for persons who have received the recently approved COVID-19 vaccines.“The trials tell us that they have an efficacy rate of 90 percent, that is at least 90 percent of the persons who would have been vaccinated with the vaccines during trials were able to fight the disease versus persons who were given a placebo,” Honourable…

Basseterre, St. Kitts, December 23, 2020 (SKNIS): Postal Services play a vital role in connecting people, businesses, and governments globally. As such, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Infrastructure, Posts, et al., the Honourable Shawn Richards, said that the postal system in St. Kitts will be digitized in 2021 to improve services. “We are looking at the digitization of the Postal Services for customers utilizing the services offered by the various post offices throughout St. Kitts,” said Deputy Prime Minister Richards on Tuesday’s (December 22) edition of ‘Leadership Matters’, a virtual forum on ZIZ TV. “We intend to digitize it to the extent…

Basseterre, St. Kitts, December 23, 2020 (SKNIS): The Joseph N. France General Hospital will soon be outfitted with a PCR Molecular Testing Unit in early 2021, says Minister of Health, the Honourable Akilah Byron-Nisbett, while appearing on the December 22nd edition of “Leadership Matters.”“That would allow us to be able to do testing for COVID-19 right at our facilities at the JNF Hospital,” she said. “As more flights begin to come in and more persons try to visit St. Kitts or even leave St. Kitts because you also have to get tested before you can board any commercial flight, it’s going to…

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, December 23, 2020 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – Business activity on the two Discounted VAT Rate Days in St. Kitts and Nevis on Friday, December 18 and Saturday, December 19, has so far exceeded the expectations of the business community. Onboth days, hundreds of shoppers flocked to the various VAT registered businesses across the Federation to take advantage of the 5 percent value added tax on the sale of goods. All tangible items that are subject to 17 percent VAT qualified for the discounted VAT Rate. Onesuch entity that saw an influx of…

Basseterre, St. Kitts, December 23, 2020 (SKNIS): During an airing of “Leadership Matters” on December 22, Minister of Health, the Honourable Akilah Byron-Nisbett, shed some light on the soon to be implemented Health Information System. She said that the Health Information System is a database that will store all of an individual’s medical information within the Public Health System. Minister Bryon-Nisbett stated that the system will be first rolled out across all hospitals within the Federation. “Once you go to the hospital, anything you need to go to the hospital for, whether it is medication, if you are staying there, whatever it is that…