Mr. Speaker, on January 3 (2019), the Ministry of Health confirmed that Jamaica had surpassed the epidemic threshold for dengue, based on the number of reported cases in December.
In line with the section 16 (1) of the Public Health Act, a press conference was called and the nation immediately notified, based on available and verified data.
In line with our international obligations, January 3 also saw the notification of the International Health Regulations Unit of the Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation. The Chair of the National Disaster Council was also notified. This, in order to coordinate and report on activities to respond to the increased number of dengue cases.
The Health Emergency Operations Centre began partial activation at 11:22 am on December 27, 2018 and full activation on 3 January 2019, triggered by the increase in dengue cases across the island.
As you can see from the graph, December was the first time that Jamaica exceeded the outbreak threshold of 96 cases, with 123 dengue case reports received.