Ocho Rios dengue clean-up today
Published:Saturday | February 15, 2020 | 12:18 AMCarl Gilchrist/Gleaner Writer
The St Ann Municipal Corporation will continue its anti-dengue campaign with a clean-up of the Ocho Rios division, starting today.
Saturday’s move comes after a similar campaign was carried out in the Exchange division on January 25.
In making the announcement at a public meeting at the Ocean Village Shopping Centre in Ocho Rios on Friday, St Ann’s Bay Mayor Michael Belnavis appealed to residents to support the drive to rid the neighbourhoods of mosquito-breeding sites.
Belnavis said that four communities will be targeted: Mansfield Heights, Lime Bottom, Pimento Walk, and Great Pond. He said there will be town hall sensitisation meetings in all 16 municipal divisions over the next three months.
EDUCATING RESIDENTS
In addition, Belnavis said vector-control workers will be employed to help educate residents on the campaign matter, drum cover nets will be distributed and spraying will take place where necessary.
Belnavis said while the dengue problem might be tapering off, the municipality will continue the drive to rid communities of the threat of dengue.
And addressing the gathering, Dr Tamika Henry of the North East Regional Health Authority said last year they saw a large number of suspected cases of dengue in St Ann. She did not disclose the precise data.
“More females were coming down with the illness and the age group we were particularly concerned about was our five-to-14 age group because the majority of our cases were in that age group, followed by our patrons who were 25 to 44 years old,” Henry said.