ROSE HALL, St James — Tourism stakeholders have welcomed the provision of 5000 COVID-19 home-testing kits by the Ministry of Health and Wellness as the industry is seeing sharp increase in the number of visitors who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus which causes COVID-19.

“This is just another tool in our tool kit to ensure the continuation of tourism in Jamaica, the protection of our workers and, of course, the protection of our guests,” stated Jamaica Hotel and Tourists Association (JHTA) President Clifton Reader during yesterday’s a handover of the kits at Montego Bay Convention Centre in St James.

Noting that the industry had been looking to the north where technology played an important role in screening, Reader said the kits will facilitate random sampling for tourism workers.

Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton, in his address, pointed out that the kits were being provided to the industry based on its importance to the country and the risks involved in such a service.

Data provided by the minister show that, for most of 2021, the proportion of imported COVID-19 cases among tourists and Jamaicans coming into the island weekly remain below three per cent based on tests that have been done. However, in the last five weeks, a steady increase was noted, with this week alone accounting for approximately 21 per cent of confirmed cases.

“This increase does suggest a challenge for us in public health and the country at large, but it’s also justification further to heighten the response on why these kits are very, very important,” said Tufton.

The country’s positivity rate has inched up over the last two weeks. Between December 12 and 18, the country was in a green zone of less than five per cent positivity, but that was reduced to 3.8 per cent on a seven-day average.

Last week, December 19-25, the country’s positivity rate was 8.8 per cent. However, this shot up to 21 per cent with a reproductivity rate of under two per cent, which is higher than the preferred one per cent.

Meanwhile, Reader said his experience is that more than 90 per cent of the guests who tested positive over the past week are not showing symptoms but are quarantined in hotel properties with backup facilities provided by the Ministry of Health. Additionally, more than 75 per cent of guests coming to Jamaica are vaccinated.

Vice-president of the JHTA Robin Russell told the Jamaica Observer that, while the number of guests who have tested positive for the virus is not wide-scale across the industry, cases have been seen in St James, Negril, and St Ann.

“It is not significant yet, but we are being proactive in ensuring that these cases are isolated. With the test kits now, we are making sure that our staff don’t get infected and, if they are, they are isolated. So, this is a very proactive move more than a reactive move to the virus,” stated Russell, whose property, Deja Resort in Montego Bay, has seen two cases of guests testing positive.

Russell said the test kits are “something that we have been asking for. Before, we were testing through the testing facilities and it was expensive. Having this will now allow us to test staff member more economically and quickly”.

— Anthony Lewis