St. Kitts and Nevis has now joined a growing number of Caribbean territories to impose travel restrictions from China in response to the outbreak of the novel corona virus.
On January 30th the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the virus a Global Health Emergency.
The death toll in China, where the virus originated, has topped 300 and on Sunday the Philippines reported the first overseas death from the growing epidemic. The virus has been confirmed in more than 25 countries
including the US, Canada, and the UK. The virus has infected more than 17,300 globally.
On Saturday evening the Ministry of Health in St. Kitts and Nevis, while emphasizing that the risk of the virus spreading to the federation remains low, a decision had been taken to restrict travel from China.
The release informed “Persons with plans to travel to China are asked to postpone their plans for the immediate future. Persons travelling from China or who have travelled to another country from China within the last 14 days are asked to remain where they are and not to travel to St. Kitts & Nevis. Persons who travel to St. Kitts and Nevis from China shall be subject to screening at the port of entry and may if necessary have their movements restricted either at home or other appropriate facility based on risk assessment.”
The health officials say this is in keeping with WHO’s advice that in the event of international exportation of cases all countries should be prepared for containment, including active surveillance, early detection, isolation, case management and contact tracing to prevent onward spread. The Chief Medical Officer Dr. Hazel Laws has assured that the nation’s health facilities and workers are in a state of preparedness. Dr. laws has advised persons to be vigilant, but calm, and to adhere to any instructions from the competent authorities.
While there are no direct flights to the federation from China, concerns have been raised with respect to cruise passenger arrivals. On Sunday the Tourism Authority sought to quash concern that the AIDAperla would be docking in St. Kitts. Within the past few days, St. Lucia and Dominica denied entry of the cruise ship into their shores as it was carrying a large number of passengers on board who suffered from respiratory illnesses.
The Tourism Authority informed that the AIDAperla was never scheduled to visit St. Kitts in this cruise season.
The Cruise Lines International Association on Monday issued a statement that its members are taking extra precautions to prevent an outbreak of the virus on board cruise ships, where infections can spread rapidly. The CLIA said Cruise lines worldwide will be deny boarding to passengers and crew who have travelled to China within the previous 14 days.
The St. Kitts and Nevis Ministry of Health, along with key national stakeholders, will be holding a press conference on Monday afternoon to discuss the Novel Coronavirus.