Health Minister Says Persons Must Continue To Obey COVID-19 Protocols

Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon Christopher Tufton, says Jamaica can experience another surge in new cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19), if persons do not continue to follow the protocols outlined.

Speaking at a virtual COVID Conversations press briefing on June 10, Dr. Tufton said the island has started to record a low trend in new cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) on a daily basis, with 20 being recorded on June 9.

“We can get back into another surge and so it is very important that even while we celebrate and recognise the achievements of bringing the virus under some level of control over the past number of weeks, we must still obey the measures in place,” Dr. Tufton said.

“We are making some progress in terms of the numbers coming down; however, we can’t afford to be complacent because we’re still in an active pandemic and, therefore, we need to constantly remind ourselves as to the risks and the protocols that should be observed,” he added.

Jamaica has now completed 13 weeks of vaccination and as at June 9, 2021, 161,850 persons received the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine islandwide. This represents approximately eight per cent of the targeted population (1.924 million).

Dr. Tufton stressed that it is important for persons living in Jamaica to return to their health centres or other assigned locations for their second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

“As a reminder to everyone, a single dose of the vaccine does not provide full protection, and that’s a message that we have to continue to push. You must take the second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine,” he said.

Jamaica now has 49,110 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There have been 989 deaths in Jamaica associated with COVID-19.