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V.I. Department of Health on Friday announced that a 47-year-old woman has died of Covid-19 related causes, carrying the territory's total deaths since the pandemic to 65.
"After further investigating cause of death and ensuring notification of next of kin, the Virgin Islands Department of Health is saddened to confirm the territory’s sixty-fifth death related to Covid-19. The deceased is a 47-year-old female on St. Thomas," D.O.H. announced via release.
Today's announcement represented the 9th Covid-related death for the month of September, or about one death per day. D.O.H. announced the 57th Covid-related death on September 1st.
Health Commissioner Justa Encarnacion on Thursday said the U.S. Virgin Islands has the lowest Covid vaccination rate in the U.S. She also said Covid-19 cases were again on the rise in the territory, with 80 active infections recorded today, a majority of which were confirmed on St. Croix.
"The United States Virgin Islands is the lowest in vaccination rate in the U.S.," Ms. Encarnacion said, stating that the USVI's vaccination rate was still below 50 percent. "However, we are the highest in number of persons contracting Covid per day per capita," she added, revealing that 80 active cases were confirmed territory-wide Thursday. Of the 80 cases, St. Croix accounted for 50, St. Thomas 27, and St. John 3. "Our numbers on St. Croix are definitely going up," she said.
The territory-wide active caseload as of Thursday stood at 215: 147 on St. Croix, 68 on St. Thomas and 5 active cases on St. John.
"The best mitigation factor for Covid-19 is becoming vaccinated," Ms. Encarnacion stated.
President Joe Biden's sweeping announcement on Thursday that calls for private employers with 100 or more employees to require workers to be vaccinated or undergo weekly testing, is set to impact the U.S. Virgin Islands, where private businesses and the central government have steered clear of such mandates. The mandate also requires federal employees in the executive branch and government contractors to be vaccinated.
The announcement is part of a six-point Biden administration initiative to curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus, whose Delta variant has disrupted America's march back to normalcy. It includes boosting vaccinations, the improvement of access to testing, and making Covid-19 treatments more readily available.
