St James slashes COVID-19 infection rate by half

WESTERN BUREAU:

Although pleased with the fall in COVID-19 cases over the last month, Lennox Wallace, acting parish manager of the St James Health Services, is warning residents not to get into a state of complacency as the battle against the deadly virus has not yet been won.

While the figures for April were not readily available, Wallace told The Gleaner he was confident infection rates have dipped by as much as half since the Government began imposing weekend lockdowns in late March.

“Definitely, it (infection rate) is down by as much as 50 per cent,” said Wallace, when quizzed about the impact of the lockdown. “It is not only at the primary healthcare level (health centres) but also at the secondary healthcare level (hospitals). The numbers are low and we are definitely pleased about it.”

In February, the northwestern parish registered new 511 COVID-19 cases, while in March when the lockdowns came to the fore, the cases dropped to 372, a difference of 139 cases.

Warnings ignored

While he is pleased that the figures are now trending in the right direction, Wallace lamented that the country had to experience such a dire situation in terms of hospitalisations and deaths before many residents took the virus seriously.

“It is unfortunate that St James residents waited until they saw the COVID-19 wards up to 95 to 100 per cent occupancy before they started taking the virus seriously and it is not because of a lack of education. We would have had meetings with every citizens’ association across the parish, from Unity Hall straight back to Greenwood,” said Wallace. “We also had intervention at the places you would call high risk, like the market, the transport centre, Sam Sharpe Square and other areas like in front of the banks. In fact, we even had challenges at some of the testing sites, where, while things were organised on the inside, we had large numbers of persons on the outside, which created a haven for the spread of the virus.”

He added that there were also sessions with service providers across the parish to encourage them to follow the various health protocols.

He was pleased with the support from other sectors and organisations, including the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“We really want to thank the chamber president, Janet Silvera, and her members as they were fully supportive all the way,” said Wallace. “Even the BPO (business process outsourcing) sector got on board after we had discussions with them … . We basically got to the stage where we had all hands on deck,” said Wallace.

No time for complacency

He warned that now was not the time for complacency, stressing that unless the vigilance is maintained, the gains could easily be eroded.

“We are not out of the woods so we are asking persons to continue to follow the Disaster Risk Management Act as their contribution to helping in keeping the numbers trending in the way we want it to go,” said Wallace.

He expressed disappointment with the entertainment sector as persons are still staging unauthorised parties in some communities.

“We have had to be going into the communities with the police to shut down illegal parties … . We know that some people want to party, but they must also realise that the measures we are now seeking to enforce will not be forever,” said Wallace, adding that nine nights and funerals still remain a concern.

adrian.frater@gleanerjm.com