BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - NEWS coming out of Jamaica states that in one day (Mar. 7), 723 cases of the Coronavirus were recorded on the island.
Media reports out of Kingston pointed to several districts within the territory breaking their one-day record.
The Jamaica Observer reported that the “Kingston and St Andrew region reported the largest numbers with 265 new cases in the past 24 hours”.
According to the report, “409 were women and 290 were males with ages ranging from seven months to 95 years”.
The Observer also reported a break down, which stated that “St. Catherine recorded 141 cases, Portland (58), St. James (54), Trelawny (45), Hanover (33), St. Ann (31), St. Mary (26), Westmoreland (22), St Thomas (20), Manchester (18), Clarendon (6) and St. Elizabeth (4)”.
Jamaica has been one of several territories within the region that has seen significant community spread of the virus.
According to numbers provided, the western Caribbean territory has reported 26,000 confirmed cases of the virus with 453 deaths.
In a short video speech, Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton announced that yesterday (Mar. 7) the territory saw a 35 percent spike in the number of COVID-19 positive cases.
The Minister lamented that with that large spike in numbers, the hospitals within the territory “will come under pressure”.
“Let it sink in that our public health workers, our nurses and our doctors are going to find it very difficult to cope with those who come in and need medical care,” the Ministry stressed.
As would have been the case in many of the developed countries, when there is a spike in the number of confirmed cases of the virus, there is little capacity available to treat persons who would have contracted the ailment.
In the United States, for example, reports surfaced that health officials were left to make a decision in some states whether to treat or leave patients to die.
“...the truth is that we are not trying hard enough. I accept that the government has a responsibility but let us be clear, a lot of the spread that is taking place in this country is because too many of us are ignoring the need for personal responsibilities,” Tufton said.
