St James HD remains vigilant against COVID-19 breaches

WESTERN BUREAU:

Lennox Wallace, parish manager for the St James Health Department, says that while he is concerned about potential COVID-19 spread through social events, to include funerals, his department remains vigilant in its efforts to keep the parish as safe as possible.

“The social gatherings are a concern and we are monitoring them, because the more persons you have gathering together, the greater the tendency to do so without proper social distancing,” said Wallace. “What we are doing this week is using our health education unit to have community sensitisation through Zoom and through the different areas in the parish, to spread the word about COVID-19.”

Speaking specifically to the monitoring of funeral services and burials, Wallace said permits for such events have to be approved through the St James Municipal Corporation, and a copy of the permit is then sent to the health department.

MONITORING EVENTS

“If somebody is going to be buried, when the approved application goes out from the municipal corporation, a copy comes to us. That way, we know where the funeral and the grave-digging are going to happen, and we monitor those places as well,” said Wallace.

“As far as illegal parties go, the public health officers and the police visit those places and seek to find out if the event is really happening. Some of the reports have turned out not to be so, as persons were simply in their yard playing music, and the public health department cannot deal with noise issues, so the police would deal with that,” explained Wallace.

Wallace’s comments came in the aftermath of a recent revelation by national epidemiologist, Dr Karen Webster-Kerr, at a Ministry of Health and Wellness virtual press conference last Thursday, where she stated that citizens have been breaching COVID-19 protocols by holding various types of events in unsanctioned spaces, such as homes.

“On the ground, we are observing that persons are not following the protocols. They are not wearing masks or being physically distant, and they are holding more home events, especially funeral services, because they feel the churches are too strict, plus they are holding events in remote areas to avoid scrutiny,” Webster-Kerr said at the time.

The health department also stated that vigilance is especially needed at this time as Jamaica braces for a third wave of COVID-19. St James has consistently been the parish with the third-highest number of cases.

Based on statistics released on Sunday, St James has recorded 5,050 of Jamaica’s total 52,089 COVID-19 cases, behind Kingston and St Andrew’s 14,319 cases and St Catherine’s 10,129 cases.