COVID-related heart attack takes SVG’s death toll to 17

Officials in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, on Tuesday, announced the nation’s 17th COVID-19 death.

The National Emergency management Organisation (NEMO) said that a 74-year-old man died on Monday, Sept. 20, of COVID-19 related acute myocardial infarction.

“Acute myocardial infarction” is the medical name for a heart attack.

“The patient tested positive for COVID-19 on September 19th, 2021. The deceased had a known underlying condition and was unvaccinated,” NEMO said.

The death, announced on Tuesday, is in addition to the two others that also occurred on Monday, which NEMO announced that day.

On Monday, NEMO said that an 88-year-old female and a 51-year-old male both died that day from COVID-19 pneumonia.

“The patients tested positive for COVID-19 on September 14th and 17th, 2021 respectively. Both deceased persons were unvaccinated,” NEMO said.

On Tuesday, the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force announced COVID-19 as the cause of death of an officer who passed away one day earlier.

Sergeant of Police Lawrence Thomas died on Monday at his home after complaining about experiencing difficulty breathing, the police statement said.

Thomas is the 51-year-old male that NEMO referred to in its press statement on Monday.

“His death has been classified by the health authorities as COVID-19 related. The deceased reportedly tested positive for COVD-19 on September 17, 2021 and was unvaccinated,” the police statement said.

Meanwhile, in its bulletin on Tuesday, NEMO said that 119 new COVID-19 positive cases were reported from 652 samples processed on Monday, resulting in a positivity rate of 18.3%.

All cases are contacts of positives or persons seeking care.

There were 23 patients admitted for COVID-19 at the Argyle Isolation Facility. Of these, 22 are unvaccinated and one patient is partially vaccinated.

The number of persons warded to the facility was six more than the previous day.

Meanwhile, NEMO said that 4 new recoveries were noted over the reporting period, leaving 602 active cases

Since March 2020, SVG has recorded 2,964 cases of COVID-19, of which 2,345 have recovered.

“In view of the confirmed presence of the Delta, Mu and Gamma variants in the community and the significant increase in the number of new infections, transmission, severe COVID-19 disease and deaths, strict enforcement and compliance with all protocols and recommendations by everyone is strongly recommended,” NEMO said.

“The correct and consistent use of masks, avoidance of crowds, physical distancing, proper hand sanitizing and immunization with available vaccines have all been proven to significantly reduce the risk of being infected, getting sick and or dying from the COVID-19 virus.”