The much dreaded variant of the coronavirus known as Delta has arrived in Saint Lucia. Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Sharon Belmar-George, yesterday confirmed the variant’s presence saying there are three cases and three more of the Alpha variant.
Health Minister Moses Jn Baptiste said the presence of the Delta variant in Saint Lucia is of great concern to the Government of Saint Lucia and the health authorities. According to him the Delta Variant is known to be more contagious, with a much higher viral load, up to 80% more transmissible than the regular strain. It is also known to affect a younger population, without underlying health conditions. It causes more severe illness and hospitalization and deaths. Typically, a small percentage of vaccinated people may get COVID-19 but they are either asymptomatic or have very mild symptoms if they contract the Delta Variant.
“I am advised that unvaccinated people remain of greatest concern due to their reduced capacity to fight this virus. The effects are more severe,” Jn Baptiste said.
The announcement of the Delta variant in Saint Lucia comes on the heels of Prime Minister Philip J Pierre saying that his administration will not go down the path of making vaccination mandatory.
“As a new government we take due notice of the developments in our sister islands of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda and Barbados as it relates to the debate and result in public demonstrations regarding the issue of mandatory vaccinations. We are also cognizant of the proposed legislative changes under the Public Health Act chapter 300 in St. Vincent and the Grenadines,” he said,
“I attended the Eighth Special Meeting of the OECS Authority (and) we discussed the issue of the power of government to mandate vaccination. We discussed the applicable constitutional provisions applicable to Saint Lucia and some of the other islands as well as touching on the legal position, which may be applied to the private sector if any government were to pursue along that path,” Pierre said, adding that they had received presentations on the law from two legal luminaries as well as hearing from the medical professional from the region.
“We as a government wish to categorically state at this time that we have no intentions of going down the road of government mandatory vaccinations. We continue to encourage our citizens to follow the public health protocols and to get tested and vaccinated thereby reducing the spread of the COVID-19 virus,” Pierre asserted.
Belmar-George’s disclosure of the Delta variant was made at a press briefing Friday morning during which she said the three Delta cases are the first to be recorded in country.
According to her the three Delta variant cases are two US nationals and one Saint Lucian national all females between the ages of 18 – 37. Two are in the South of the Island and one in the North.
Only one was vaccinated, Belmar-George stated.
The disclosure of the Delta variant comes amid a sharp rise in cases of COVID-19 in Saint Lucia to the point where the country moved from having low active cases to 515 persons in isolation in just days, according to information from The Ministry of Health at press time yesterday
The Chief Medical Officer, other help personnel and the Government of Saint Lucia have asserted that the country is at a critical point in its fight against the spread of the virus and have agreed to several changes to coronavirus protocols.
The government has already announced a structural change to the island’s Command Center which will now be headed by a health expert, rather than a minister of government.
Prime Minister Philip j Pierre said that his administration intends to “follow the science” in order to attenuate the threats of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“While we cannot eliminate COVID threats we can certainly mitigate the threat to levels that can achieve two objectives. Firstly, avoid the health care system being overwhelmed by having more cases of infections and secondly, maintaining some level of normalcy in the country that allows us to carry on with our daily lives,” Pierre said.