SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland — With news surfacing that the parish now has the country’s highest rate (26 per cent) of increase in COVID-19 cases, some Westmoreland residents are becoming increasingly worried.

The numbers increased from 2,220 on July 1 to 2,881 up to August 9, according to data from the Ministry of Health and Wellness.

“I feel worried because mi have two pickney [and] mi likkle boy trouble with asthma,” a terrified Jeneice Taylor, is also asthmatic, told the Jamaica Observer on Monday. “Mi fraid a COVID. Mi nuh waan ketch it.”

Taylor is unwilling to take the vaccine as her children, who are under the 18-year age limit, cannot get the jab as well. “Mi nah tek it if mi pickney dem cyaan get it,” she said.

Westmoreland has been among the parishes hardest hit by the disease in recent weeks. Yesterday it was announced that the parish’s courts, along with those in neighbouring St James, have had to scale back staff after a number of employees contracted the virus.

Savanna-la-Mar resident Kemar Wright, who has already been vaccinated and is hoping others will follow suit, is also worried about the high number of cases in the parish.

“Indeed it is worrying, as I’ve noticed that many people have become complacent and or unencumbered by many protocols [put in place by] the Government,” lamented the educator.

“As citizens we all have a role to play,” he reasoned.

Segrid Spence, who resides in Frome, said she wants to be vaccinated but is hoping she will be able to get the one-shot Johnson & Johnson brand which, according to Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton, should arrive in Jamaica later this month. Spence is worried that Westmoreland will be blamed for the third wave of the virus that now has the country in its grip, as seen by the strain on major hospitals.

“If it get worse we can end up like India and America, [where they are] having to fight the pandemic again,” shared a worried Spence.

Keith Wedderburn, who lives in the Belmont section of Westmoreland, told the Observer he is not surprised [at the increase in cases in the parish]. “It should come as no surprise that we are having these adverse effects. We are reaping multiple [times] what we sow,” he argued. He blames the Government for the parish being in the red zone, saying it should have seen the global signs of what was to come.

In his view, the packing of too many passengers in taxis, many people’s failure to wear masks, and partygoers’ non-compliance with safety protocols are factors contributing to the spike. He is unvaccinated but the surge in cases has not made him feel the urge to change his status.

The country had 6,543 active cases up to Monday. The number of people hospitalised stands at 302 while 73 are moderately ill and 33 are critical. There have been 47,270 recoveries from the 55,456 confirmed cases.