Gov’t keeping tabs on COVID hospitalisations, deaths

Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton says the Government is closely monitoring hospitalisation and deaths as a result of the increase in the COVID-19 positivity rate over the past week, but noted that he was not harbouring regrets over the withdrawal of orders under the Disaster Risk Management Act (DRMA).

On Wednesday, April 27, the island recorded 115 new cases, bringing the overall number of local confirmed infections, since the pandemic began in March 2020, to 129,662 cases.

Only one new death was reported on Wednesday, with positivity rate at 11.6 per cent. The country’s seven-day average positivity rate stood at 8.6 per cent.

Up to Wednesday, 108 individuals remained hospitalised, of which 22 were positive cases and 86 suspected of having the virus.

“As of now, every death is one too many, but the numbers are far lower when compared with the positivity ... . I don’t think we should live in regret as it relates to the lifting of those restrictions,” Tufton said at a press event last night.

Asked by The Gleaner whether the health ministry had made any recommendation for the retention of the mask mandate, which was fully lifted on April 15, or whether it was in full support of the Government’s decision, Tufton did not give a clear response.

However, he pointed out that the ministry had put forward the pros and cons of such a decision and that clinical assessments were reviewed in coming to a determination.

“All the decisions that we take, whether to keep the mask or to remove the mask, come with a certain level of risk,” said Tufton, adding that there continues to be a significant mental health impact derived from the restrictions.

“The point is that the decision was announced, was taken, and was taken in the context of a general position that we needed to restore a sense of normalcy to the society, to the economy, to the country, not just for economic purposes, as important as that is, but also for psychosocial purposes,” he added.

“If you see things moving in that direction, then you have to adjust, and the Government has always been willing to pivot in this pandemic,” he said.

Despite last week’s confirmation of the presence of the Omicron BA.2 variant in the island, health officials in Clarendon say the news is “not alarming”.

Eugena Clarke-James, acting CEO of the May Pen Hospital, said that her team is prepared in the event that there are any changes in the future.

“May Pen Hospital is always ready. We have our plans in place, so we are ready to cope with any situation at all, because we have gone through the worst,” said Clarke-James, in reference to other variants of the respiratory illness.

She disclosed that the Delta variant had the most adverse impact on the hospital because of a significant number of cases being recorded.

Nonetheless, since March, the facility has witnessed a decline in cases, having recorded two positive cases over the last several weeks, with no positive cases at the facility on Wednesday.

Last week, the parish’s medical officer of health, Kimberly Scarlett-Campbell, told The Gleaner that the 40-bed field hospital at the facility was temporarily closed, amid a decline in COVID-19 cases.

The regional technical director at the Southern Regional Health Authority, Dr Vitilus Holder, has also confirmed that, up to Wednesday evening, only the Percy Junor Hospital has two positive cases and one suspected case, while the Mandeville Regional Hospital has one suspected case.

In Clarendon, both the Lionel Town and the May Pen hospitals have one suspected case each, with no confirmed cases, while there were neither confirmed nor suspected cases at the Black River Hospital in St Elizabeth.

Despite the breathing room, medical personnel at the Spanish Town Hospital in St Catherine continue to face significant challenges, according to CEO Jacqueline Ellis.

She told The Gleaner that the hospital remains severely challenged, running beyond its bed capacity of 430.

This, she said, was affecting how quickly patients are seen or able to get beds, noting long-standing complaints of people having to sit in wheelchairs or on medical stretchers, despite having to be admitted.

“That is a challenge and we are really saddened sometimes by [that] fact,” said Ellis, whose hospital currently has 233 medical doctors and 300 nurses and patient care officers.

With a daily admittance population of nearing or exceeding 400 persons, she believes any spike in COVID-19 cases could cause more strain.

COVID-19 hospitalisations have been slashed, with the facility seeing between 30 and 40 admissions, down from last year’s high of 90-odd COVID-related cases daily.

Few to no positive cases have been recorded in the past three months.

“It has come down, ... but we still have to be watching. We cannot be relaxed,” Ellis said.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Jacquiline Bisasor-McKenzie is urging Jamaicans to continue exercising caution and still take COVID-19 shots despite the lifting of mandates.

“I want to, again, just emphasise that the removal of a law does not remove a need for infection and prevention control measures, and what we have is now the freedom to evaluate our risks in different situations,” she told The Gleaner on Wednesday.

She added that she was hopeful that, after two and a half years, Jamaicans would be in a position to understand that the protection, prevention and control measures, such as social distancing, sanitisation, and wearing masks, do prevent exposure and transmission.

She disclosed that the rise in cases is being seen mainly in hotspots of tourist traffic – St James, Westmoreland and St Ann.

But with the BA.2 being the more transmissible variant, she added that “it is expected that, once it is here in the country, that we will start to see an increase in the number of cases”, but so far, there has not been an increase in hospitalisations, severity of illness and deaths.

Additional reporting by Olivia Brown and Tamara Bailey.