As of July 06, 2021, thirty-nine (39) residents at Her Majesty’s Prison and two (2) members of staff have now fully recovered from the COVID-19 virus. They were given the all-clear by health officials after having two negative tests recently. Currently, there are sixteen (16) residents and ten (10) members of staff who are still considered active cases. They are all in a stable condition at this time. Members of staff and residents at the Prison Farm in Nevis were tested over the weekend and their results all returned negative.
Following an outbreak of the virus in the Prison in St. Kitts in June, the management team moved quickly to put several measures in place to protect the health of residents and staff members who were not affected. The measures proved effective in drastically slowing the spread of the virus among the residents. Commissioner of Corrections Terrane James and his team divided the cell block down the middle with a partition and put affected residents in isolation on one side. To facilitate full recovery, those who test positive are given additional supplements, encouraged to exercise, in addition to being taken out for fresh air and sunlight. They are also visited regularly by the Prison doctor. Cells were sanitised to allow for recovered residents to move out of the isolation area.
Last week, the Prison acquired protective personal equipment (PPE) with the assistance of the Ministry of Health to further prevent the spread of the virus. Commissioner of Corrections James continues to work closely with Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Hazel Laws and the Chairman of the National COVID-19 Task Force, Abdias Samuel, to monitor the situation at HMP and to address any issues that might arise. He thanked his staff for their commitment to the job. Commissioner of Corrections James said that personnel and residents are still being encouraged to get vaccinated. To date, just over 70 percent of staff and approximately 50 percent of residents have been vaccinated.