MOH urges continued precaution against COVID-19
Published:Monday | April 18, 2022 | 12:06 AMBryan Miller/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
MEDICAL OFFICER of Health for Hanover, Dr Kaushal Singh, is advising Jamaicans to continue following health precautions established under the Disaster Risk Management Act (DRMA), to prevent contracting the COVID-19 virus.
The caution comes against the background of the relaxation of mask-wearing and other previous requirements under the DRMA as of Friday.
“I pause to state that although after April 15, mask mandate will be expired, I will hasten to advise the population to take precautions, still wear your mask while you are in enclosed areas,” Singh stated, while tabling a report from the Hanover Health Department (HHD) at the Hanover Municipal Corporation’s monthly meeting in Lucea on Thursday.
Singh posited the importance of persons still getting vaccinated, adding that it will help in protecting family and friends, especially those who are counted among the group which is vulnerable to critical illnesses.
STEADY DECLINE
Turning his attention to the COVID-19 situation in Hanover, he pointed out that for March, there was a steady decline in the number of new cases in the parish.
“When we calculated at the end of the month (March), we had 68 new COVID-19 cases recorded in the parish for the month, the cumulative number of confirmed positive cases was 4,153. By the end of the month, there were only 10 active cases, with approximately 3,811, or 92 per cent, of total cases in the parish fully recovered,” he stated.
Singh credited the vaccination rate within the parish as a contributory factor to the recovery rate, even though he described that rate as “static”.
Quoting statistics from the Western Medical Journal, Singh said that Hanover has the second-largest number of obese persons in the island, second-highest number in terms of persons having hypertension in its population, and with a comparative high percentage of its population being diabetic.
“These people are vulnerable for critical illnesses. Look at it, just add it up; most of the population of the parish are vulnerable, so that is why I am asking the population to still observe preventative practices. Protect your family, your household and your neighbourhood,” he stressed.
Noting that the rate of persons seeking vaccination against the COVID-19 virus has been static, Singh pointed out that the HHD has adopted several measures to convince persons to get vaccinated. One such measure involves the employment and training of 50 persons described as ‘vax ambassadors’, whose responsibility will be to speak to persons in communities across the parish, and inform them about the benefits and importance to taking the vaccine.
“This is with a view to encouraging them to take the vaccine from an informed perspective,” Singh noted.
Singh also advised that as summer draws near, persons should be on the lookout for mosquito-borne diseases.
“As per our data, after May – from the end of May to September – we always have an increased number in the Aedes aegypti mosquito indices, so the chances of having dengue will increase,” he shared. “So I am urging the population to take care of any waterlogged space in your surroundings.”