CHARLOTTE AMALIE — The Virgin Islands Department of Health confirmed Monday that a 73-year-old woman on St. Thomas was the 31st person to die of the COVID-19 virus in the territory.
But the Health Department did not report when the woman died. A patient was reported to be on a ventilator at the Schneider Hospital during Government House’s coronavirus update last week.
The woman’s death highlights the urgent need for everyone to get one of the several available vaccines that are shown to nearly eliminate the risk of severe illness and death from the illness, according to the Health Department.
There continue to be more cases on St. Thomas than equal-sized St. Croix or much smaller St. John, but the St. Thomas curve appears to be leveling off some, according to Health Department statistics.
So far there have been 20 St. Thomas deaths; 10 on St. Croix and one on St. John. Since mid-April, all five USVI fatalities have been on St. Thomas.
As of Saturday, the most recent day the department has provided statistics for, there are 71 active cases in the territory with 34 on St. Croix, 36 on St. Thomas and one on St. John.
On Sunday, the chief medical officer in the British Virgin Islands announced the active case count in the territory had increased to 273, with 256 on Tortola, four on Virgin Gorda and one on Jost Van Dyke. The British territory has recorded one death.