New York, USA – A 15-member team of United States-based Jamaican medical personnel is preparing for a third mission to the island in their quest to boost the fight against the novel coronavirus in their homeland.

An advance team, comprising New Jersey-based Dr Robert Clarke and Dr Gary Rhule, head of the Health and Human services Department in Connecticut, visited the island on October 17 for a preliminary assessment on to how best to deploy its services. Since then two trips have been made to Jamaica.

The initiative is being coordinated by the Jamaica Diaspora Council for the Northeast United States (USA) headed by Dr Karren Dunkley, the chairperson for the north-east US health sector; Claudette Powell and Dr Trevor Dixon from the Jamaicans Abroad Helping Jamaicans At Home Foundation.

It followed a request for help against the pandemic from Jamaica’s consul general to New York Allison Wilson who noted that the assistance was needed in Jamaica where health workers were under pressure and vaccine hesitancy was high.

In an interview with the Jamaica Observer, Dr Clarke, who is head of Help Jamaica Medical Mission, a non-profit body which has been providing medical assistance to the island for many years, said most of the assistance would go to the Savanna-la-Mar Hospital in Westmoreland.

He noted that the original request for help came from that hospital for a field hospital but that the mission had pivoted to assist other areas of the hospital, because the field hospital was not quite ready.

Dr Clarke said, in the meantime, that Help Jamaica Medical Mission hoped to return to is core role next year, after it was forced to abandon its activities, following outbreak of the novel coronavirus last year.

The current move is the latest in a series of efforts by Jamaicans across the US to help with containing the virus back home. Several organisations are also mobilising medical equipment, supplies and other items to assist in the endeavour.