COVID Cases Drop Dramatically and Hurricane Season Anything but Quiet

The weekly Government House Press Briefing is transitioning into general government news as well as updates on COVID-19 as the virus morphs from a pandemic to the endemic stage.

Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. spoke Monday about financial matters and events, while Health Commissioner Justa Encarnacion and Daryl Jaschen, director of the V.I. Territorial Emergency Management Agency, spoke about COVID and upcoming weather events.

All three speakers sent sympathies to those affected by Hurricane Ian last week in Puerto Rico and Florida.

Encarnacion announced there are 40 COVID cases in the territory compared with 78 on Sept. 28. St Croix has 25 infections, St. Thomas 15, and St. John is coronavirus-free, according to the report. Five people are hospitalized on St. Thomas and none on St. Croix.'

Vaccines are currently available at the Charles Harwood parking lot during the week from 9:30-10:30 a.m. and during the same hours at Schneider Regional Medical Center. On St. John, people can get the shots on Wednesdays from noon to 3 p.m. at the Port Authority Parking Lot.

The bivalent Pfizer vaccine is available for persons 12 years and older, and the Moderna bivalent vaccine is for those 18 years and older, according to Encarnacion.

“Get the vaccine to prevent serious illness. Individuals are still getting very sick, and individuals are still dying,” she said.

There are no reported cases of monkeypox in the territory, the commissioner said.

Jaschen said two disturbances in the Atlantic are being monitored by VITEMA. The closest is a depression that should reach the Windward Islands by mid-week but only has a 30 percent probability of developing into a storm in five days after it passes south of the Virgin Islands.