Tufton: Tourists must abide by testing standards

WESTERN BUREAU:

HEALTH MINISTER Dr Christopher Tufton says that overseas visitors who are reportedly complaining about getting positive COVID-19 results from polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing after previously getting negative results from rapid-result tests must follow the testing standards which are required by the countries they are visiting.

Tufton made the recommendation on Thursday evening while touring the under-construction field hospital at the Savanna-la-Mar Public Hospital in Westmoreland, which will house 50 bed-spaces for COVID-19 patients and is slated for completion in January.

“The PCR test is the gold standard of testing as it is the most accurate test, while the antigen test and the home test are not as accurate, particularly if you are asymptomatic. So if I were a tourist, I would not complain, but I would seek to get better and, of course, to comply with the standards that are required by the countries that those persons are going to,” said Tufton.

He was responding to reports that tourists vacationing in Jamaica have been refuting positive results which they have received after testing for COVID-19, especially when their own previous tests had given negative COVID results.

In a December 16 report from Canadian media outlet CityNews, several tourists from that country said that they had done daily rapid-response COVID tests with negative results, only to test positive upon being subjected to the PCR tests at the Negril, Westmoreland-based resort at which they had been staying. There have also been accusations that Jamaica’s COVID-testing process is flawed and that it must be closely investigated.

But according to Tufton, overseas travellers must meet the stipulated requirements for submitting to PCR tests, which have been set by countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom.

“There are some countries that now require PCR testing, Canada and the United Kingdom in particular, [and] the requirement by other countries to do the PCR test is now confirming what previously may have been a false negative by the antigen test or other forms of testing. The PCR test is being requested by countries that are concerned about high infection rates,” said Tufton.

“Those who are concerned and who complain are really required to meet the standards set by the countries that they are going to, because we had no issues with giving them the antigen tests and then sending them off. But they are now being required to do PCR tests for those other countries,” Tufton added.

The Ministry of Health & Wellness has said that Jamaica is now in the fourth wave of COVID-19 spread. The situation is compounded by the possible presence of the Omicron strain of the virus, which is said to be more easily transmissible than the previous Delta variant, despite having milder symptoms.

Local health authorities sounded the alert regarding the Omicron strain on December 22 after a visitor from the United Kingdom tested positive for the variant upon returning to that country, having spent some time at a resort in Jamaica. It was estimated that there could be up to 1,500 daily COVID cases in Jamaica by mid-January if the Omicron variant is present and goes unchecked in the population.

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com