Tufton: Locking down country not that simple
Published:Friday | December 17, 2021 | 7:17 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Despite expectations of increased travel as many Jamaicans fly in or out to visit family for Christmas, even while the winter tourist season picks up amid relaxed curfew hours, Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton has said that closing down the country as the COVID-19 omicron variant looms is no simple feat.
Speaking during a COVID-19 press event on Wednesday, Tufton said that consideration has to be given to the mental health of Jamaicans – including children who have spent several months outside of physical classrooms – who have endured nearly two years of COVID restrictions.
“As a country, and indeed as a world, there is a learning curve that has given us a degree of protection, whether through vaccination, contamination and recovery, or protocols. At the same time, we have to also recognise that there have been consequences to the learning curve, and mental health, from a public health standpoint, has been a significant consequence,” Tufton said.
“For example, there are our children being out of school for almost two years, and people not being able to work and using up their savings. All combined, it is adding to the very public health crisis that we have tried to mitigate through restrictions. So it is not a simple formula of just closing down because you anticipate a wave or a surge,” the health minister added. “It is a very complex approach to finding a balance or a solution, so you do not solve one problem and create and amplify several others.”
Since the onset of the local COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020, several curfews and other regulations have been put in place to limit the spread of the virus.
Last week, the Government contracted the nightly curfews by one hour, now set for 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. between December 10 and January 13, 2022.
On Christmas Eve, Jamaicans will be given an additional three hours to move about freely, with the curfew set to begin at 1 a.m. on December 25 and with a similar arrangement for New Year’s Eve into New Year’s Day.
In the meantime, Tufton took a fresh jab at persons who remain hesitant to take COVID-19 vaccines, even as the country now has more than 1.1 million doses in stock.
“Frankly speaking, I am so disappointed by persons who are not vaccinated because I believe we do have the solution in our hands. It is quite disappointing to still hear so many of us who have the opportunity declining the opportunity, because that is ultimately what will restore normality,” said Tufton.
To date, Jamaica has recorded more than 91,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 484 active cases having been confirmed in the last two weeks. Some 103 COVID-19-afflicted Jamaicans were hospitalised on Wednesday.
At the same time, 1,174,215 total vaccine doses have been administered up to Wednesday, with 627,652 of those being first doses, 472,727 second doses, and 73,836 single doses.