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Jamaica
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Persons who use COVID-19 home test kits are being urged to report their positive results to the Ministry of Health and Wellness to allow for better tracking of the geographic spread of the virus locally.
The call was made by Chief Medical Officer, Dr Jacquiline Bisasor-McKenzie, at a recent COVID-19 press briefing, where it was announced that the island is experiencing a fifth wave of the virus.
There are concerns among health officials that persons utilising the convenience of the home test kits are not reporting their positive COVID test results.
“What we know is that for persons who are formally engaged and may require leave from work, they are more likely to report the tests so that they can get their quarantine order, so that they will have the time off,” disclosed Bisasor-McKenzie.
“For persons who are informally employed or who may not require that certification, they may not (report the positive tests), so we can’t be confident in the numbers that we are getting.
“… But we do encourage persons to report the test results to the health departments so that we can keep a track on the numbers,” she stated.
Aside from the challenges with the use of the COVID test kits, Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton, revealed that the National Health Fund (NHF) has already procured some of the test kits, which have been distributed to health centres across the island.
“We will do our best to ensure, where we can, to make those available for testing. Otherwise, of course, you can get a test done at a private entity,” he stated.
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