Chairman of the Cabinet COVID-19 Sub-Committee, Senator Dr. Jerome Walcott.
Government has made checks and has implemented measures to ensure the country can handle the increase in the number of new cases of COVID-19 presently being recorded.
Chairman of the Cabinet COVID-19 Sub-Committee, Senator Dr. Jerome Walcott, stated this recently as he made opening remarks during a press conference at Ilaro Court.
“I am pleased to report that we have certainly 50,000 to 60,000 swabs available. We have over 100,000 rapid test PCR test kits available and we have some on order… The lab has additional staff, there is certainly no backlog at this stage and they are certainly involved in processing samples even now from swabs that were taken during the course of the night as it relates to the prison and indeed, as it relates to the actual contact tracing.”
Speaking about checks made at the St. Lucy-based isolation facility, he said: “We have also looked at our facilities at Harrison’s Point in terms of the capacity and I know a number of you would recall that we said that it has a capacity of just over 200 there. In addition, we have provision for an additional 30 persons and we have adequate beds.”
He continued, “I should say at this point in time because of the evolving nature of the process, we are obviously looking at other areas where persons can be accommodated, for example, the Blackman and Gollop Primary School which was used in March [last year].”
Turning his attention to speak about the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), he said: “We have also been looking at our health facilities and the QEH is making some initial provisions. I think many of you would be aware in March, the QEH had put in place a COVID response plan and that is now being implemented, not fully like it was then, but certainly, they are making provisions in terms of separations and how patients are triage at the Accident and Emergency Department. There are plans afoot in terms of shifting parts of the Accident and Emergency Department, in terms of shifting certain outpatients clinics to allow for a greater separation in terms of patients when they are being triage.” (MG)