MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton has warned residents of this south-central parish that they must “change course” to avoid a worsening novel coronavirus spike which has already led to tighter restrictions here.

Tufton, speaking Wednesday at the signing ceremony for a grant from the Japanese Government to purchase an ambulance for the Mandeville Regional Hospital, urged residents of Manchester to take extra precautions.

“I have to use the occasion to appeal to the residents of the parish of Manchester, who depend on a facility such as this one, and other health care facilities, and without which they would have much more challenges…to the extent that we can put less of a burden on the public health system [as] it is really serving your personal interest as well as the interest of the community,” declared Tufton.

“The extent that you can take the extra precaution, I am urging you to take that extra precaution. None of us can afford to feel that, because a hospital is here, and we have dedicated staff, and because we have new ambulance…you can therefore become irresponsible about your behaviour, because there is always somewhere to go for a prescription or a bed or a surgeon or a nurse,” added Tufton as he charged that there needs to be a collective effort by Jamaicans to overcome COVID-19.

“It is not always going to be like that. If all of us are irresponsible, that is just the practical reality that we face. So it is important that we appeal to each other for responsible behaviour, as we seek to support the collective effort to overcome COVID and the other risks that we face,” said Tufton.

Manchester saw an increase of 125 new COVID-19 cases between January 10 and 24, with the cases being spread across 30 communities, which pushed the Government to introduce tighter measures for a period of two weeks ending Monday, February 8.

Under the new measures Manchester will see a daily curfew from 7:00 pm to 5:00 am, with public gatherings reduced to 10 people in the parish.

“With a positivity rate over the last two weeks of 27.8 per cent, let me put it in context – the country has a positivity rate during that same period of just under 11 per cent. Manchester positivity rate means that for every 100 persons that are tested for COVID almost 28 are positive for COVID,” said Tufton.

“If you are in a room with 10 people, close to three of those 10 are positive for COVID, which puts it in the right context of why we need to be careful. While [for] the rest of the country, if you are in a room with 100 people maybe 10 are positive.

“We are heading for trouble if we don’t change course,” added Tufton, who thanked the Japanese Government for its grant of US$84,158 for the procurement of an ambulance for the Mandeville Regional Hospital to boost delivery of quality health care and emergency response.

The health minister used his visit to Mandeville yesterday to tour the main market as part of his ministry’s ‘market pop up’ campaign which is aimed at increasing nutritional awareness in Jamaica.