New highly contagious strain of COVID-19 now in Jamaica
Published:Sunday | January 3, 2021 | 12:16 AM
Four cases of the reported highly contagious strain of COVID-19 that recently surfaced in the United Kingdom (UK) have been confirmed in Jamaica, but the authorities here are cautioning against panic.
Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton gave the update at a press briefing yesterday evening, where he stressed that the Government was taking all the necessary precautions to keep it under control.
The four positive samples were among the 20 confirmed coronavirus cases out of the 301 passengers who arrived from the UK on December 21, the date Jamaica banned passenger arrivals from the UK because of the newly discovered strain of the virus in that country. Jamaica has now restricted flights from the UK until January 31.
The samples were analysed by the Trinidad-based Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA).
“As of now, there’s no evidence to confirm that this makes you more ill or it affects the initiatives that are now in progress towards having a vaccine,” Tufton said, flanked by the familiar faces of Dr Jacquiline Bisasor-McKenzie, the chief medical officer; and Dunstan Bryan, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health and Wellness.
“We are monitoring. We are learning as we go along. To date, the evidence is not so damning that one should feel more threatened, except, of course, it spreads more rapidly,” Tufton added.
Later on, however, the chief medical officer made it clear that it was only in the UK that there have been reports of quickened spread.
“There are about 20 countries that would have reported that they have one or two cases, some five or six cases, of this new UK variant. None of these countries have actually indicated that they have seen increased transmission that they think is due to this variant,” said Bisasor-McKenzie, explaining why restrictions have been limited to the UK so far.
However, Opposition Spokesman on Health, Dr Morais Guy, said Tufton has additional questions to answer on when the ministry “accessed” the results from CARPHA, arguing that the Government may not have shown enough urgency to get the results.
“Did the ministry know of the results (prior to opposition concerns on December 31, 2020) and if they did, why was the country not told before? Why was not there an urgency on the part of the Government to insist on CARPHA to have these samples out, having regard to the fact that we were the only country in the territories contributing to CARPHA with concerns about this variant?” Guy queried.
In a December 31 statement, the Office of the Prime Minister said the health ministry expected to hear from CARPHA in another two weeks. The samples were sent on December 23, 2020.
SECOND BATCH FOR CARPHA
A second batch of 20 samples, this time including from local positive cases, is to be sent to CARPHA on Monday.
On Friday, the New York Times reported that at least 33 countries had reported detecting the UK variant, also known as B.1.1.7, which has not been linked to more deadly cases.
The new COVID-19 variant was detected in England in November, but thought to have been around since at least September. It has been blamed for a spike in cases there, even amid tough lockdown measures.
The update from the authorities comes as the ministry confirms that, in the last 24 hours up to Saturday evening, Jamaica recorded the highest positivity rate – 23 per cent – in two months.
That was based on 118 samples returning positive results out of the 513 tested.
It is concerning, Tufton admitted, because a spike is expected for this month, likely triggered by holiday celebrations and the pick-up in testing pace.
Western parishes, such as Westmoreland with 690 cases, remain a headache for the health authorities.
Jamaica’s confirmed cases up to January 2 now stand at 13,049, which includes the 641 recorded between December 18, 2020 and January 2, 2021.
Meanwhile, the health ministry is reporting that more Jamaicans will get vaccinated in the first phase than initially projected.
Early last month, Tufton told Parliament that, of the 16 per cent of the population targeted for the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of this year, one per cent would get the jab by April.
Bisasor-McKenzie said yesterday that the number has climbed to five per cent.
“As more vaccines are approved, more manufacturing occurs, the numbers may change,” she explained.
Jamaica is procuring a vaccine through the Global Access Facility (COVAX Facility), which is a collaboration spearheaded by the World Health Organization.