A nurse sits on hospital floor, overworked by Covid-related patients. Photo Credit: GETTY IMAGES
The V.I. Dept. of Health on Friday announced the 64th Covid-related death in the U.S. Virgin Islands, as the territory is once again experiencing a surge in cases, with St. Croix leading active infections.
"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-fourth death related to Covid-19. The deceased is a 71-year-old male on St. Croix," D.O.H. said in a release.
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.
The commissioner said the Mu variant of the virus has been in the territory for at least two months, a response she provided after the Consortium sought information on whether the strain of the virus was impacting the territory. She said the Delta variant remained the dominant version of Covid-19 locally.
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