US Embassy Hands Over Tents and Other Items to St. Thomas Health Services

The St. Thomas Health Services has received a donation of tents and sundry items from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Caribbean Regional Office, United States Embassy, to assist in the fight against COVID-19.

Speaking at the handover ceremony on February 26, at the Princess Margaret Hospital, Acting Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy, Jamaica, Mr. Varough Deyde, spoke of the collaboration with local health partners. “We are very happy to be here on behalf of the US Embassy to share the common goal of trying to provide better health care for all Jamaicans, in particular here in St. Thomas,” he said.

“The US Government is indeed committed to the collaboration with the Government of Jamaica on public health priorities and the aim is to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the Acting Chief of Mission added. He said that the Minister of Health and Wellness, the health departments, the schools and the communities at large are all key partners in this effort. Mr. Deyde noted that the supplies that are provided, some of which are already in use, are really provided to help with proper social distancing in crowded clinics and “we’re happy that we’re able to contribute to that effort.”

For his part, Medical Officer of Health (MoH) for the Parish of St. Thomas, Dr. D’Oyen Smith, said the donation will make a very big difference. “One of the important things is to keep persons that are possibly infected apart while we investigate them. The patients will come to the clinic and without the spacing of an extra tent outside, these persons would be bundled into the health centre, which means if there is an infected person within that group, then a number of persons would have been exposed on that day,” he explained. The MoH added that the tents have allowed for the proper spacing of clients inside the facilities as well, as they take the extra persons out of the building.

“The tent allows greater spacing, better social distancing and that has really helped, particularly at the Seaforth and Morant Bay Health Centres, so that has really helped us in terms of reduction of transmission,” Dr. Smith said. “In terms of the sundry items, the thermometers have helped us in detecting those persons who are more than likely to have symptoms of COVID and who should really be separated from the rest of the population, so they don’t expose those individuals,” he added. Dr. Smith pointed out that they would also be important in keeping the staff safe. Meanwhile, Acting Parish Manager for the St. Thomas Health Services, Mrs. Pauline Ellington, also expressed gratitude for the donation.

She said that the tents were in use in three health facilities, Morant Bay Health Centre, Seaforth Health Centre and the surgical clinic at Princess Margaret Hospital. Mrs. Ellington noted that the donation of tents, masks, hand sanitisers, sanitation supplies, disinfectants and non-contact thermometers was very timely. “We are very pleased to receive this donation and it will help us overall in our management of COVID-19 within the parish,” she said.