KINGSTON, Jamaica, Tuesday March 10, 2020 – Jamaica today confirmed its first imported case of the new Coronavirus (COVID-19).
Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton said the patient is a Jamaican woman who had travelled from the United Kingdom which has more than 270 cases of the virus.
In a statement issued a short while ago he said the woman, who has UK citizenship, arrived in the island on March 4 and presented to the public health system yesterday and has been in isolation since then.
Dr Tufton said that based on her travel history and symptoms, health professionals had suspected COVID-19, the virus which originated in Wuhan, China and has spread to more than 100 countries.
“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.
“The patient’s infection was travel-related. However, steps are being taken to prevent the risk of community spread,” the Health Minister said.
A health team has been sent to the home of the patient for assessment and initiation of public health measures; all possible exposed persons are being identified and traced, and Ministry officials will have a meeting with members of staff at the hospital and the necessary interventions put in place.
As of yesterday, there were 109,577 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 3,809 deaths globally.
The Jamaican case is the first in the English-speaking Caribbean. A few others have been recorded in the Dominican Republic, Martinique, Saint Martin and St Barts.
“I want to use this opportunity to appeal to the public to remain calm and to implement all the advisories relating to personal hygiene, social distancing, and overall infection prevention and control. The Government of Jamaica will continue to keep the public informed as we manage this public health challenge,” the Health Minister said.
Dr Tufton disclosed that he has named an eight-member COVID-19 Response Advisory team that will support his ministry’s planning and coordination with respect of this public health challenge.
He also told the media that three more countries have been added to the original five on which travel restrictions were in place. In addition to China, Italy, South Korea, Singapore, and Iran, the ban includes Spain, France and Germany.
“The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and I met this morning with the ambassadors of those countries, together with the ambassador for the EU and have informed them that based on the risk assessment of community spread of the virus in those countries that travel restrictions would be imposed,” Dr Tufton said.
Given that COVID-19 has reached Jamaica’s shores, the Health Minister has also advised that public gatherings and non-essential travel are discouraged.
Additionally, he said, authorities will continue to patrol irregular border crossings; sensitization of key personnel at all air and sea ports is ongoing; four quarantine facilities have been designated and others will be identified; and the retrofitting of isolation facilities in each of the island’s public hospitals is being finalized.
Speaking about the readiness of the island’s health system, the Health Ministry said it has developed the local capacity to test for the virus, thanks to training provided by the Pan-American Health Organization.
It added that it has assessed the readiness of health facilities to meet the anticipated increase in demand on services and “continue to address existing gaps, including with respect of additional supplies and equipment, though, at the present time, we have enough personal protective equipment in the island for our health facilities”.
“We also have adequate stores of respiratory medicine for the next three months,” it added.
The Ministry has also urged the public to adhere to infection prevention and control measures:
• Maintain a distance of at least one metre from persons who are coughing or sneezing.
• Frequently perform hand hygiene by washing hands thoroughly with soap and water or using a hand sanitizer if hands are not visibly soiled.
• Cover our mouths and noses with a tissue when coughing or sneezing, and then discarding it.
• And resist the habit to touch our faces.
