Hospitals based overseas have resorted to recalling COVID-19 positive health-care workers to aid in their response to the virus as the Omicron variant wreaks havoc, even if they are infectious.

Jamaica has never been in that position and that’s why the South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA) and the Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA) are urging Jamaicans to be grateful, despite the country’s challenges and shortcomings in public health.

Dr Sandra Chambers, regional technical director for the SERHA, told the Jamaica Observer that people ought to respect what they have locally.

“We have not gotten to that stage, but we really want to tell the public not to take it for granted and continue to observe the protocols. We do not want to arrive at that state. They have to help us to help them. We all have to help ourselves and it all boils down to personal responsibility. I have an obligation, you have an obligation, and together we keep each other safe,” Chambers said.

Two weeks ago, SERHA, which comprises of 92 health centres and nine major hospitals, froze all applications for leave and directed health-care workers on non-essential leave to return to work as its facilities buckle under the weight of the fourth wave of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

However, Chambers maintained that the authority had never got to the point where sick doctors and nurses had to be called back.

“We are not at that stage. We were calling some staff because of the number of staff members that we had out recently. Now, the number of staff is returning back to normal. We still have staff out, but not like what happened last week and the week before. We are kinda out of that… we still have people out, but they have been returning little, little,” she told the Sunday Observ er.

“And as they come in, others go out, but not at the volume at which it was happening. So, yes, we are managing, despite everything else. We are always short-staffed but within our capabilities, we are basically managing.”

On Tuesday, January 25, Prime Minister Andrew Holness told the House of Representatives that 40 of 43 samples tested locally returned positive for the Omicron variant.

Since the start of the year, over 30,000 positive cases and over 200 deaths have been recorded.

Clinical coordinator at the WRHA, which consists of four hospitals and 84 health centres, Dr Delroy Fray told the Sunday Observer that the country has been doing well with the available resources.

“Jamaicans should be absolutely proud of what we have been able to accomplish with our resources. We are able to manage the little resources we have most effectively, to give our patients the best care that we can give. In fact, week before last Thursday, we had up to 120 very sick patients in hospital and we were able to manoeuvre and look after them very well,” he said.

Agreeing with Chambers, he said the WRHA has never been pushed to the point of having infected workers on the clock.

“In western Jamaica, I don’t have that problem. We have doctors and nurses off… in fact, two weeks ago, we had up to about 30-odd nurses off. Now it is all going down. We are able to manage with a little readjusting,” Fray told the Sunday Observer.

“And as the weeks go, we are seeing less people getting hospitalised with COVID and less health-care workers are being affected.”

On January 23, The Washington Post highlighted the concerns of US nurse Candice Cordero, who said she still had a fever and a cough late last month, when her hospital told her it was time to return to work.

Cordero said she tested positive for COVID-19 after being fully vaccinated, and said a health representative told her that she could return to work.

Meanwhile, Opposition spokesperson on health and wellness Dr Morais Guy told the Sunday Observer that he would not want a situation like that to occur in Jamaica.

“Fortunately, so far, we have been coping with our situation. The reality is that unless you are going to get those persons working in the COVID ward, as opposed to among non-COVID patients, then it would be irresponsible to have them come back into the sector to work with persons who are not COVID positive. Because then you run the risk of passing on COVID to those non-COVID patients.”

Guy said there is also another element.

“If you can determine the type of variant that these COVID positive persons have that you are bringing back into the system to work, it will also be wise if you are able to determine whether they are going to be working with persons who have been admitted to the hospital with the same variant,” he reasoned.

In terms of the Omicron and Delta variants and the original strain of the virus, he added, there are different severities of illness that can occur.

“So, it would be a monumental task for us, because unlike those hospitals which may have those facilities to rapidly determine the type of variant that presents for a particular individual, we do not have luxury here,” he explained.

“And we may risk the possibility of a health-care worker who has Omicron and is caring for a person in the hospital who has Delta… and we know that people can get more than one episode of COVID. That would be imprudent to do,” Dr Guy added.