CRH now able to handle large numbers of COVID cases – Dr Fray

WESTERN BUREAU:

Dr Delroy Fray, clinical coordinator at the Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) in Montego Bay, says he is confident that the Mount Salem-based health facility can adequately facilitate COVID-19 patients, even if the numbers increase as dramatically as they did in St Catherine recently. Fray gave the reassuring announcement following yesterday’s handover of $3.5 million worth of equipment to the hospital by the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI). The donation included two ventilation monitors, 50 surgical gowns, and 1,200 disposable gloves.

“The good thing about this infection is that most people who get infected don’t really need hospitalisation and active care,” said Fray. “What I can tell you for sure is that for those who will need hospitalisation because of the severity of their illness, we’ll have the capacity to deal with it.” He added: “There are 17 areas here at CRH to deal with such patients. We have four areas that are designed in the event that the patients will require ventilation and proper monitoring and another five areas which are well-designed, based on distancing, to deal with patients.”

LOCKDOWN

Jamaica has recorded 143 confirmed infections of COVID-19, including five deaths from the highly contagious respiratory infection. Of the latest confirmed cases, most are from the Alorica call centre in Portmore, St Catherine. The parish has since been placed on a seven-day lockdown by Prime Minister Andrew Holness. “It was one call centre, one person that was identified, and look at the outcome, yet we’re still not sure how many others are infected. Once there are infections, you cannot guarantee how this is going to spread unless you maintain what’s been put in place by the Ministry of Health and the Government,” said Fray. Janet Silvera, president of the MBCCI, said her organisation will be embarking on an awareness campaign to help the resident of Montego Bay to better understand how to restrict the spread of COVID-19.“We want to do a short video, about one minute long, where we use some popular faces to get people to be more aware because we find that Montegonians do not understand what it means to stay three feet apart, wear a mask, or wash their hands,” said Silvera. “Too many people are seen on the roadside daily sitting right next to each other without any protective gear.”