CHRISTIANSTED — During the weekly Government House briefing this afternoon, Territorial Epidemiologist Dr. Esther Ellis said that active COVID-19 cases in the U.S. Virgin Islands continue declining, and the Virgin Islands Department of Health (DOH) currently is tracking 36 active cases, with 30 on St. Croix, five on St. Thomas and one on St. John.
Territory-wide there is only one patient hospitalized — at Schneider Regional Medical Center on St. Thomas.
“As the Virgin Islands approaches our traditional tourist season, and we begin to greet individuals from all over the globe, the department would like to appeal to those who have not become fully vaccinated and boosted,” Dr. Ellis said. “Becoming vaccinated is the best way to protect yourself from severe disease, including severe illness, hospitalization and death from the current strains of the COVID-19 virus.”
The new bivalent vaccine, which protects against the newest strains of the COVID-19 virus, is now available in the territory for children ages 5 and older, and free vaccinations are available at all DOH clinics.
COVID-19 vaccinations are available by scheduling an appointment:
St. Croix – 340-244-0016
St. Thomas – 340-777-8804 ext. 2600
St. John – 340-776-6400
The COVID-19 testing schedule remains the same:
St. Croix – Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. in the Charles Harwood Memorial parking lot
St. Thomas – Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday – 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the Schneider Regional Medical Center loading dock
St. John – Wednesday from noon to 3 p.m. in the Port Authority gravel lot.
Anyone who thinks they may have contracted COVID-19 can call the Epidemiology hotline at 340-712-6299 (STX) or 340-776-1519 (STT-STJ).
For more information, visit covid19usvi.com.
Monkeypox
Dr. Ellis also said Monday that the territory still has no confirmed cases of Monkeypox.
To learn more about being eligible for a free monkeypox vaccination, call 340-774-9000 ext. 4663.
For more information about monkeypox, use the “Communicable Disease” tab on the Department of Health website at doh.vi.gov.
Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drill
Also during Monday’s briefing, VITEMA Director Daryl Jaschen said his agency is still urging residents to participate in the upcoming Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drill, which is scheduled to take place at 10:20 a.m. AST on Thursday, October 20, during which time millions of people across the world will practice the drill of “Drop. Cover. Hold On.”
Director Jaschen said 12,148 people have signed up to participate locally, surpassing last year’s record number of 10,000 participants, and he reminded participants to record their drills and submit them to VITEMA.
To sign up for Thursday’s event, go to www.shakeout.org/usvi/.
Tsunami siren testing
Additionally, during the Great Shake Out Drill on October 20, VITEMA will be testing the Tsunami Siren Warning System by a sending Tsunami Alert Warning Tones and Audio Message to all 44-Tsunami Warning Sirens located on St. Thomas (19), St. John (7), Water Island (1), and St. Croix (17).
“We still have two sirens on St. Thomas which we know are not working, at Lindbergh Bay and Bordeaux, and on St. Croix, the server software and communications repeaters are in the final phase of configuration,” Director Jaschen said. “Depending on the progress over the next several days, VITEMA will announce if the 17 sirens on St Croix are going to be included in the test schedule.”