Last Updated on March 11, 2020, 1:39 AM AST by Anthony Morris
Jamaica has reported that there has been the first imported case of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the country.
Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, the Minister of Health and Wellness, gave the details regarding the matter at a press conference at the Ministry of Health and Wellness on Tuesday, March 10.
He told that the patient who has the virus has been kept in isolation at the University Hospital of the West Indies.
He further told that the patient is a Jamaican female who had travelled back all the way from the United Kingdom, where the cases of COVID-19 have already been reported. She arrived in Jamaica on March 4, and she has been isolated ever since she presented herself before the public health authorities on March 9.
Based on the patient’s symptoms and travel history, health professionals had suspected that she could have been infected with COVID-19.
So, to run tests, a clinical sample was collected and sent to the National Influenza Centre. The tests they performed there, confirmed the diagnosis today at approximately 11:00 a.m. The family of the patient have been informed regarding the same.
Dr Tufton said that the infection of the patient was travel-related and that all necessary steps are being taken to prevent the risk of spread of the virus in the community. These steps include the dispatch of a health team to the patient’s house for the purpose of assessment and to initiate the public health measures and to identify and contact all the possibly exposed persons.
The Ministry of Health and Wellness is requesting the public to follow the infection prevention and control measures, to maintain a distance of at least one metre from the persons who are sneezing or coughing; frequently washing hands thoroughly with soap and water or using a hand sanitiser if hands are not visibly soiled; covering mouth and nose with tissue or handkerchief when coughing or sneezing, and then discarding or washing it and resisting the habit of touching the face again and again.
Additionally, he said that the already imposed travel restrictions for China, Italy, South Korea, Singapore, Iran, Spain, France and Germany would stay in place as such.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
