Implement tighter COVID-19 measures, Figueroa urges gov't

 

Peter Figueroa, Professor of Public Health at the University of the West Indies, Mona, has said the government should increase measures to curb the spike in COVID-19 cases which has left Jamaica's hospitals reeling.

 

He said while a lockdown is not necessary, expanded curfew hours should be considered.

 

Professor Figueroa is also in favour of reimposing the mandatory work from home policy and a reducing the gathering limit.  

 

"If you are facing a surge, as we are, of a highly infectious virus which the Omicron variant is, then it is always best to tighten the measures early in the surge to dampen this spread and therefore ease the force of infection," he suggested. 

 

"The force of infection with Omicron is very high, and therefore it's highly transmissible and what we are seeing is that the frontline workers in the health sector are getting ill, and it means that the health sector is under a lot of stress. So, it would have been better to send a signal as well as take measures that would slow the surge," he continued.  

 

With COVID-19 hospitalisations at 577 as of Tuesday, Professor Figueroa said it is not too late to implement swift measures to prevent the situation from getting worse.

 

"It would have been better if there were some tightening earlier, but my personal view would be that it would still help. The hospital situation could get worse than it is, and we would want to avoid that. And we don't necessarily need to lock down the country."