Sandy Bay, Clarendon quarantined

More than 19 persons within the community have tested positive for the respiratory virus after two patients were admitted at the May Pen Hospital during this week, health officials have reported.

In a release issued early this morning, the health ministry said: “The Ministry of Health and Wellness in collaboration with the Clarendon Health Department and the Southern Regional Health Authority (SRHA) has reviewed today the recent COVID-19 cases coming out of Clarendon.  Two positive cases of COVID-19 are admitted at the May Pen

Hospital. Case investigations and contact tracing have been carried out that have yielded six positive contacts of these two hospitalized cases including an imported case.

“A community surveillance was carried out in Sandy Bay and neighboring communities where there is significant cause for concern because of lack of adherence to infection prevention and control measures. Crowd gathering was noted without use of face masks in one church where several persons with respiratory illnesses were noted. Members of the church have been found to be positive.

“In addition, another 13 persons have been found with symptoms and have been sampled. There are also two confirmed cases and a suspected case from Rosewell, a community that neighbors the Sandy Bay area and from which several persons attend the same church.

“Due to the number of positive cases and the number of persons with symptoms in the community, the health authorities have concluded that there is considerable risk of further transmission and infection in this community.

“In consultation with the local health authority, Southern Regional Health Authority (SRHA), the decision has been taken to quarantine the area of Sandy Bay in Clarendon (as specifically identified below) for 14 days which will take effect from Thursday, August 6, 2020 at 6:00 a.m. to Thursday, August 20, 2020 at 6:00 a.m.

“Exposed persons in the community may develop infection and cause spread to other members in the communities resulting in a rapid increase in the numbers of positive cases.  This is due to the high movement of persons within the affected households within the community; the high population density of the area identified and the high vulnerability of persons within the community to severe illness due to age, comorbidities and other socio-economic factors.”

The quarantine of Sandy Bay, located some 12 kilometres west of Old Harbour, is to restrict movement of members of the community to slow or prevent new exposures.

Officials have noted a spike in confirmed cases in recent days, with eight new cases reported in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of positives to 928, 745 of which have recovered. There have been 12 COVID-related fatalities in the country, two of which were reported in recent days.

During the period of quarantine, health officials will undertake further testing of members of the community; close monitoring of members of the community for development of symptoms; early containment of newly detected cases; prevention of new exposures and transmission of disease; and education of members of the communities of Infection Prevention and Control measures.