High COVID-19 recovery rate in Manchester
MANDEVILLE, Manchester — There is a high recovery rate among COVID-19 patients in this south-central parish, with 90 per cent of the 396 confirmed cases having recuperated.
Up to yesterday, there were only 23 active COVID-19 cases in the parish. Manchester has seen 17 people die from the virus since its onset in March.
Acting Medical Officer of Health Dr Shonette Blairwalters, who was speaking at the monthly meeting of the Manchester Municipal Corporation yesterday, disclosed that four people with the disease have been hospitalised.
“...Eighteen people are in home isolation. The remaining persons are in hospital, not just here in Manchester. There is also a person who is in a government-run facility. If you [look at] the numbers, you will observe that most of the persons who had [tested] positive for COVID have actually recovered,” she said.
The medical officer also said that 905 people in Manchester are in home quarantine, including those who would have recently entered the country and close contacts of confirmed COVID-19 cases.
Blair-walters said the Manchester Health Department has increased its surveillance activities at three facilities.
“… One is a privately owned facility, and two are government-run facilities. We are having increased monitoring for these facilities and the agencies are cooperating, to the best of their ability at this time, to resolve the issues that have been identified,” she said, adding that the health department continues to monitor nursing homes, children’s homes, and some schools that have been reopened for limited face-to-face classes.
“The environmental team from the health department has been guiding these schools,” she added.
Mile Gully Primary and Devon Primary schools are that two institutions in the parish that resumed face-toface classes on Tuesday. They are both located in northern Manchester.
In terms of nursing homes, deputy chief public health inspector in the parish, Joel Myers, said that 80 per cent of them are compliant with established infection prevention and control measures.
“On record, we have 24 nursing homes; they are [being] monitored. With respect to COVID, near 80 per cent of those homes have met the compliance and we are working with those that have not fully met the compliance [requirement],” he said.
MINISTER of Housing, Urban Renewal, Environment, and Climate Change Pearnel Charles Jr has announced that a multisectoral task force will be established by his ministry to support and advance the country’s development agenda and to ensure that climate change adaptation efforts are sustainable.
Speaking at the official naming ceremony for the Douglas Cover building at the Victoria Mutual Building Society (VMBS) Duke Street location in downtown Kingston yesterday, the minister said the task force will pull on talent from all the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAS), as well as from the private sector.
“The true outcome for us as a country must be developing a climate-resilient society, climate-resilient housing and climate-resilient policies that truly advance the new Jamaica,” he argued.
The task force, he said, will also focus on ensuring that infrastructure developments are undertaken in a resilient way and that integrated actions are promoted across MDAS and the private sector.
He said further discussions on the formation of the task force will be held with the permanent secretary and other senior executives of the ministry to determine and finalise the composition and structure.
“When you talk about no-build zones, when you talk about amending policies and legislation to make sure that we can withstand the climate shocks, this is the task force that is going to go into the ‘nitty gritty’, is going to pull on the skill sets that we have available across universities and institutions, not just in Jamaica, but we will welcome our friends from the diaspora as well, to have their contributions,” he said.
He further noted that the task force will key in on the specific variables that are going to ensure that Jamaica moves forward with the development that will make the country more climate-resilient.
“That we no longer settle in areas that are going to put our own people in danger, that we find the policies and the programmes that are going to encourage people to be able to develop and build their homes, have access to financing, create tools and products that will allow them to be able to know not just to build, but to build [using] particular methods,” he said.
The minister noted, too, that financial institutions and developers are integral to the process of promoting climate resilience.
“I encourage institutions like VMBS and JN, and other institutions that are giving persons access, to make sure, at the forefront of their contemplation and the things they use to decide whether they approve or disapprove, they always keep climate resilience and the building of our adaptation and mitigation principles at the forefront,” Charles Jr said.
The ceremony celebrated former VMBS General Manager Douglas Cover, and formally named the Victoria Mutual Chief Office and Duke Street Building in his honour.
It also coincided with Cover’s 90th birthday, which is celebrated on November 12. The naming ceremony is also one of the highlights of Members’ Month.