The US Virgin Islands has experienced 10 Covid-related deaths in 11 days following the latest announcement from the V.I. Dept. of Health Saturday.
“After further investigating cause of death and ensuring notification of next of kin, the Virgin Islands Department of Health is saddened to confirm the territory’s sixty-sixth death related to Covid-19. The deceased is a 80-year-old female on St. Croix,” D.O.H. said.
Local health authorities along with Governor Albert Bryan have stressed the importance of getting vaccinated against the virus. And new research data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday found that people who are not vaccinated against Covid-19 were 4.6 times likelier to get infected, 10 times more likely to be hospitalized, and 11 times more likely to die from the virus.
The results are from three CDC studies conducted as the Delta variant became the dominant strain of the virus in the country. In the studies, the CDC examined outcomes among patients who visited medical facilities’ urgent care departments, emergency rooms as well as veterans’ hospitals.
Patients in five Veterans Affairs Medical Centers were tracked between Feb. 1 through Aug. 6 in one study. Another study followed 600,000 positive cases in 13 states and large cities during the spring and summer times. The third study followed 33,000 Covid-19 patients in nine states who visited hospitals, emergency departments and urgent care centers.
The Biden administration points to the growing body of data suggesting that vaccination remains the best way to not only protect against the virus, but to usher the U.S. back to normalcy. Mr. Biden on Thursday announced sweeping requirements that include mandatory vaccination for federal employees, and mandatory vaccination or weekly Covid-19 testing at private firms with more than 100 employees. Those who flout the order could face up to $14,000 in fines per violation.