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NAJ President Patsy Edwards Henry and Dr. Leslie Meade, President-elect of the MAJ
The Nurses Association of Jamaica (NAJ) has disclosed that more than 200 nursing personnel are away from work after testing positive for COVID-19 or being placed in quarantine awaiting test results.
NAJ President Patsy Edwards Henry said nurses are again coming under pressure amid the fourth wave of the virus.
"They have over 120 who are out positive and another probably 80 who have been swabbed. Then we have that other section of nursing who is out because they are actually sick, not specifically COVID, not specifically flu-like symptoms, but they are sick," she revealed.
Although Mrs. Edwards Henry acknowledged that "nurses are tired" due on the pressure they have been under for the last two years, she said those who are on vacation may have to be recalled to fill the void.
The NAJ president pointed out that while hospitalisation rates are not as high as they were in the third wave, a number of people are still turning up at hospitals with COVID-19 symptoms.
She has called for the authorities to put measures in place to reduce the burden on healthcare workers due to the surge in COVID-19 cases.
"I understand the frustration with the government and the Prime Minister, but we also have to look at what is actually happening on the ground and make decisions. This COVID-19 is new and so we have to be changing the rules as we go along. So, I don't believe we can have definitive arrangements without trying to evaluate, reassess, evaluate and then putting things in place to ensure that we cope," she insisted.
Hospital operations affected
Dr. Leslie Meade, President-elect of the Medical Association of Jamaica (MAJ), said critical care services at the Kingston Public Hospital have been severely impacted by the surge in COVID-19 cases.
Dr. Meade said the majority of doctors in the anesthetics and ICU departments are ill.
"A number of doctors are out, especially those in the anesthetic and ICU department, which is really critical at this point for the management of critically ill patients. We have about 80% of them now either in isolation, I mean they're confirmed or quarantined, in the anesthetic department. You must go to emergency services only because you cannot handle any elective cases that may come in," he outlined.
Dr. Meade noted that a similar situation exists at other hospitals, including Bustamante Hospital for Children and Mandeville Regional Hospital.
"[In] Mandeville, yesterday we had only one consultant anesthetist on duty because the others are out ill. And so, we are seeing these sorts of pictures over and over again," he said, suggesting that the situation is at a stage where the government "cannot just make a decision that there should not be any further lockdowns, but what we need to do is to evaluate what is happening as the disease progresses and make decisions accordingly."
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