CHARLOTTE AMALIE — The U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Health received information from the Schneider Regional Medical Center of a death that occurred earlier today.
The death could be associated with COVID-19, but further testing is required to confirm it, according to the VIDOH.
Two men and two women have died from coronavirus on St. Croix and one man and one woman have been confirmed dead of COVID-19 on St. Thomas.
As of Monday, four COVID-19 patients were hospitalized in St. Thomas and one of them was on a ventilator to breathe.
A person is put on a ventilator as a last resort when they medically can’t breathe on their own. They cannot eat while intubated with the breathing tube and are often sedated for the duration of the ventilation process.
“Since patients can’t eat while intubated, doctors place a temporary feeding tube through the nose or mouth and insert an IV containing electrolytes and sedatives into the neck,” Insider explained.
No additional information is currently available at this time.
Also, next of kin will be notified before no more information can be released.
https://www.insider.com/what-its-like-to-be-on-a-ventilator-with-coronavirus-2020-4
Stephane Mahe/Reuters
