COVID-19 Health Crisis: “Early Signs of Third Wave”

Prime Minister Andrew Holness says there are increased signals that Jamaica might be entering a third wave of the health crisis.

It has been three weeks since the COVID-19 restrictions have been relaxed on the island of Jamaica, and there are reported signs that there might be a spike in COVID-19 cases.

Prime Minister Holness announced that the COVID-19 Sub-Committee will be meeting to review the current measures and present an update by July 27. While speaking in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, July 21, the He signaled that if necessary, the measures will be tightened.

The COVID-19 statistics indicate that Jamaica is in high transmission with a positivity rate of 9.9%. The national epidemiologist has advised that the reproductive rate should, as much as possible, be below 1%. Currently, it is at 1.1%, which means that an infected person is spreading the virus to 1.1 persons.

Western parishes like St. James and Hanover are mostly impacted by the virus.

The Delta variant is now the dominant variant of the Coronavirus, COVID-19 globally. However, the Prime Minister says health officials are yet to detect that variant in the island. In the meantime, Jamaicans are being urged to err on the side of caution.

The Prime Minister says the decision by the sub-committee will be announced by next Tuesday.

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