BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - FOLLOWING the recent disclosure that there was a “lapse” that resulted in a COVID-19 positive case being released into the public’s domain, it is now being described as a “breach” with no one expected to be charged.
At the NEOC media brief on Wednesday, February 3, 2021, Superintendent of Police Cromwell Henry had said there was a “lapse” at one of the quarantine facilities that resulted in a positive case being released and allowed to travel on public transportation.
That lapse saw 20 people being placed in quarantine and deep contact tracing resulted.
Henry noted that a police investigation was launched into the incident and possible criminal charges would have been laid.
However, Medical Chief of Staff Dr. Cameron Wilkinson explained that no charges would be laid in the incident and the individual in question did not travel on public transportation as was reported.
Speaking at the February 10 NEOC media brief, Dr. Wilkinson reminded that the quarantine facilities are not “maximum security” and, as such, “from time to time we may have breaches”.
Wilkinson, like Henry, did not give specifics in terms of how the alleged breach occurred.
“As it relates to the specific case that you’re speaking about, yes, there was a breach, details of which I cannot go into. The person did not travel on a passenger bus, but they travelled on a vehicle. But it was not a passenger bus where other passengers would have been in the bus to create exposure,” Wilkinson noted.
He reassured the public that everyone who came into contact with the individual was identified and quarantined. “So we did the necessary contact tracing and I don’t think that there is going to be any criminal charges that will be brought against these persons,” he added.
While lamenting the fact that breaches do occur because of “misjudgment”, the Medical Chief of Staff noted that there is not often direct criminal intent in some instances.
