Third wave

President of the Medical Association of Jamaica, Dr Andrew Manning, believes that Jamaica is now in the midst of a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Thursday, the country recorded 326 new cases, which is the second-highest number of cases since the 381 cases recorded on April 10 this year.

When asked if Jamaica was in the midst of a third wave, Dr Manning declared, “Yes, definitely.” There has been a steady increase in the number of COVID-19 cases since the relaxation of restrictions on July 1. At that time, the country recorded a positivity rate of 8.8 per cent. That figure now stands at 29.8 per cent by August 5.

Dr Manning said that the Government should reintroduce restrictions on movement and gatherings including for the church and the entertainment industry. “The virus spreads from person to person, so the more movement you have, the more the virus is going to spread. So I think the authorities are going to have to look at tightening the curfew hours and they are going to have to revisit allowing gatherings.”

The surge in COVID-19 cases has serious implications for the resumption of face-to-face classes which are slated to resume in less than a month. Dr Manning explained that the resumption of in-person classes would depend on Jamaica being able to decrease and maintain a COVID-19 positivity rate of five per cent or less.

Dr Peter Figueroa, professor of Public Health and Epidemiology at The University of the West Indies, has also recommended the tightening of existing COVID-19 measures to reduce the surge in cases. He said that a blended approach to teaching was needed as there were too many disadvantaged children being left behind with online learning.

“This surge is serious; we have to try and limit it as quickly as possible…the damage being done to so many of our children because they cannot get proper schooling must not be underestimated,” he noted.

Likewise, Dr Mindi Fitz-Henley, president of the Jamaica Medical Doctors’ Association, is hopeful that schools can resume in-person classes for September as children with special needs have had limited interactions since the start of the pandemic. She told The Gleaner, “If it is that they can find a way to run the private sector entertainment business, we must be able to find a way to have school.”

Fitz-Henley observed that the COVID-19 figures are all going in the wrong direction. “What is going to make the difference is to see the trend over the next week in terms of the trend in positive cases to the rate of hospitalisations … Unfortunately, we are increasing all of those numbers.”

Earlier this week, it was revealed that suspected COVID-19 patients had to wait in tents at the University Hospital of the West Indies as Wards 7 and 8, the Accident and Emergency Department, the Intensive Care Unit and the Medical Intensive Care Unit were all at full capacity treating COVID-19 patients.

Senior Medical Officer at the Cornwall Regional Hospital, Dr Derek Harvey, also expects that the medical facility will be forced to go into emergency mode as the number of COVID-19 cases has increased exponentially over the last 24 hours. Up to Thursday, there were 35 patients on the COVID ward, which has the capacity to accommodate 32.

“We will have to repurpose the wards. Currently, we are looking at the male ward, which we will have to convert, based on what we are seeing,” he told The Gleaner. Another option is the Falmouth Field Hospital, where patients who are not very serious would be exchanged with ones that are critical.

Acknowledging the limitation in staff complement, he said the plan was to pull people from non-COVID areas of the hospital, including the Accident and Emergency Department, which are already coming under pressure from patients with respiratory issues.

The Gleaner also understands that only three ICU beds are functional for the entire western region and the operating theatre at Falmouth is currently down due to air-conditioning issues. One upset doctor who blamed this situation on poor planning stated, “We are using money on marketing and scraps on infrastructure”.