KINGSTON, Jamaica— The Ministry of Health and Wellness is reporting that measures are in place to strengthen the response capabilities of the public health system, as the island experiences its fourth wave of COVID-19 infections.

To this end, temporary staff employed to support the operations of local health facilities and the national vaccination programme had their contracts extended to March this year.

At the same time, the island’s bed capacity for COVID-19 patients is also set to increase with the final of eight field hospitals to be completed this month at the Savanna-la-Mar hospital. This will move the country’s bed count for COVID-19 patients to 745 islandwide.

The minister of health and wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton, gave the update on Thursday during his first COVID Conversations press conference for 2022 held at his New Kingston ministry.

Tufton also announced that his ministry has been given assurances by its main supplier of medical oxygen that it can support a surge capacity of up to 1,200 patients in COVID-19 beds. He said the ministry also intends to diversify the supply of oxygen, including through public-private partnerships.

“As predicted, the fourth wave of the pandemic is here. The evidence is in the increase in cases over the last two weeks. More COVID-19 infections invariably mean more hospitalisations, which will put pressure on the public health system and the public health team,” Tufton said.

“We have put measures in place, but do also want to caution Jamaicans not to grow complacent at this time of vulnerability. Along with the infection prevention and control measures, we continue to champion vaccination as critical to the success of our COVID-19 response,” the minister added.

Chief Medical Officer, Jacqueline Bisasor-McKenzie told the press conference that the fourth wave started on December 20 and is expected to run for at least another three weeks.

Members of the public, in particular the elderly, and people living with a chronic illness, such as diabetes and hypertension, are encouraged to get their booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccines to help to prevent severe illness and death. People who are immunocompromised should also receive an additional dose of the vaccines. She said up to 11,500 infections and 300 deaths could be seen in the peak week.

Along with its vaccination programme, the health ministry is making available self-test kits as an important tool to help contain the pandemic. As part of these efforts, the ministry has donated 5,000 home self-test kits to the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association for tourism workers, and 5,000 home self-test kits to the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information. In addition, plans are underway to certify additional laboratories to offer testing for COVID-19.

The ministry continues to urge Jamaicans to remain vigilant in their practice of the infection and prevention protocols, notably, hand washing or sanitising, mask-wearing, physical distancing and avoiding crowds.