Jamaica today confirmed its first imported case of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton revealed, in a statement, that the patient is a Jamaican female who had travelled from the United Kingdom, which has cases of COVID-19, according to the Jamaica Observer.
Tuffton said the woman arrived in Jamaica on March 4, presented to the public health system on March 9, and has been in isolation since then.
He said based on the patient’s travel history and symptoms, health professionals suspected COVID-19. A clinical sample was collected and sent to the National Influenza Centre, where laboratory tests confirmed the diagnosis today at approximately 11:00 am. The patient and family members have been informed.
Tuffton added that the patient’s infection was travel-related. However, he mentioned that steps are being taken to prevent the risk of community spread, among them, the dispatch of a health team to the home of the patient for assessment and initiation of public health measures, the identification and contact tracing for all possible exposed persons and a meeting of ministry officials with members of staff at the hospital and the necessary interventions put in place.
There are now four Caribbean countries confirmed with the virus.
The others are Dominican Republic, St Martin, and St Barts.
We continue to put the dollar above our people’s safety. I have been pleading for closure of our borders. I have been ignored at the cost of our people’s health. So by refusing to close our borders, it is no longer a case of if, but when, and to that I say not long. Our risk in the Caribbean has been revised upwards to very high as per the public health pundits. Seven Caribbean islands have at least one positive case of Corona, (1) St Vincent (1), (2) Guyana (1), Jamaica (2), St Martin (3), St. Barts (3), Martinique (3), Dominican Republic (15). In all cases the disease was imported.
We refuse to close our borders, but look at what the mighty USA is doing! Suspended flights from Europe (close it’s border with Europe, except the UK), The UK is doing something similar, all of Italy is closed, Why can we not, if not listen, see what is happening. MY call again: CLOSE DOMINICA’S PORTS OF ENTRY, CLOSE ITS BORDERS!!!! We cannot and will not win this fight. Our leaders be aware!!
We need to pause to recognise the blessings associated with this confirmed case.
(1) Jamaica has the largest population in the English speaking Caribbean
(2) It’s health system is among the best developed
(3) There access to skilled public health personnel is more readily available there than any where else in the Caribbean
(4) In the Caribbean, we do not have a flu season because the weather is universally tropical (warm/hot). Hence it would be interesting to see how this virus behaves in the Caribbean. Will it be as infectious and deadly?
Of course I note that there are some five Caribbean islands with at least one case, Jamaica (1), Martinique (2), St Barts (3), Dominican Republic?(15), Saint Martin (2).
This small cohort of cases and the course they run will inform us but I believe that our climate will be hostile to the virus so it’s effect on the Caribbean will not be as deadly, we still need to be careful and take the advised preventative steps.
“There are now four Caribbean countries confirmed with the virus.
The others are Dominican Republic, St Martin, and St Barts.”
Editor: what about Martinique?
Admin: You are right. That was an inadvertent omission. Three confirmed cases have been reported in Martinique
Forget about all the lies of Skerrit and McIntyre. Skerrit in my opinion is working for China or some foreign entity while McIntyre is working for Skerrit along with all of the ministers. So don’t believe a thing they say. They don’t work for us and therefore don’t care about us. Here is the the truth below as to how ready we are:
https://www.businessinsider.com/countries-least-prepared-for-pandemic-coronavirus-outbreak-2020-3
Along with Jamaica, “The others are Dominican Republic, St Martin, and St Barts.”
So as of now we good right? I don’t believe we might ever hear of a confirmed case in Dominica, not because we don’t have but rather, 1. because of the nature because of our government that is NOT transparent. 2. See how they treated the TB outbreak 3. They might not test anyone knowing that if anyone is positive they have to think of treating the person, isolating the person and testing those that person had contact with and we know they cannot do any 4. Knowing like the TB they imported from Haiti the coronavirus was born in China and would be imported through their carelessness. So people will probably get sick and even die from coronavirus and we will just suspect the cause but never get confirmation. That’s the scare I have because as a result of the above, lots of people might get the infection and due to lack of knowledge our people will not take necessary steps to protect themselves.
Skerrit & Co. will lie their way through this, as usual. The health care in DA is well below par or more precise, non existing. So, it’s neither here nor there. Skerrit and his gang if they fall seriously ill, will always have the option to fly anywhere in the world for treatment. All you who voted for these gangster don’t have that choice. So, very well done for subjecting our country to another 5 years of incompetence, lies and thievery.
What about Dominica? Should I interprete this silence and hide and seek as confirmation that we do not have coronavirus in Dominica? I don’t care what the authorities say I suspect and deeply believe that we have buried victims with the coronavirus, who were never tested, never diagnosed. It reminds me of years gone by many persons might have died of cancer and diabetes but were never diagnosed . I personally believe since December our people dying but we were busy in the election theft and no one took notice
and Martinique so it’s 5 cases