Health Minister Reiterates Appeal For Persons To Obey COVID-19 Protocols

In light of the country’s increasing coronavirus (COVID-19) positivity rate, Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, is urging Jamaicans to comply with the measures implemented to reduce its spread.

These measures include physical distancing, staying at home, avoiding crowded situations, frequently washing and sanitising hands and surfaces, adhering to curfew hours, wearing masks, and obeying the quarantine rules.

The positivity rate refers to the percentage of all coronavirus (COVID-19) tests that have come back positive.

Speaking at a virtual press conference on March 8, Dr. Tufton said the Government is very concerned at the increasing positivity rate.

“March 7 represented our highest daily case count on record, but more importantly, a positivity rate of well over 30 per cent,” the Minister noted.

“The public, I know, gets alarmed when they see high numbers, but the positivity rate is really the key variable to watch, because what that says to us is that for every amount that we test, whether it is 100 or 300, the higher the per cent of positivity, is the more the virus is present within the population, and so a positivity rate of over 30 per cent in this instance, I believe close to 39 per cent, means that for every 10 persons in the population, four are positive,” he pointed out.

Dr. Tufton said adherence to the infection prevention and control measures established under the Disaster Risk Management Act is critical to reducing the number of positive cases in the island.

Meanwhile, he said the Ministry is working to clear the COVID-19 testing backlog.

“So, while we will clear up the backlog, and, therefore, be testing less than 2,000 or more each day over the next couple of days… we will likely still see positivity rates that are relatively high, until we see the impact of persons observing the protocols,” he noted.