Dear Editor,

Chief Medical Officer(CMO) Dr Jacquiline Bisasor-McKenzie is encouraging individuals who indulged in self-testing for the novel coronavirus via their home test kits to report all positive results to the health authorities.

While this encouragement by the CMO is quite logical and welcome, some Jamaicans, no doubt, will be sceptical of the effectiveness of such a request, myself included. It is crucial that Jamaica can identify the number of COVID-19 cases in the island, especially when concerns are resurfacing about a possible COVID-19 surge and China’s present uphill trajectory.

The simple fact is that, while there are many well-thinking, honest, and good Jamaicans who will indulge in such critical undertaking for the greater good, others will not be as honest regarding their COVID-19 status. The latter assertion is made based on the fact that most people have a penchant to be dishonest regarding anything that will impact their personal space and status, especially in relation to their health and welfare. Therefore, it is likely that many Jamaicans who have taken the self-tests will not report their positive results.

Just think about it. Given the attitude towards and stigma attached to COVID-19, don’t you think some of them will conceal their status instead of revealing same? As an educator with thousands of students directly under my supervision, I am quite concerned about this policy of self-testing for this highly contagious disease.

While I am neither undermining nor disrespecting the CMO or the Minister of Health Dr Christopher Tufton, I think that this initiative of granting Jamaicans personal self-testing kits to ascertain their COVID-19 status was poorly planned and, in fact, short-sighted.

Needless to say, such apparent short-sightedness can have the opposite result, that of increasing cases across the island.

Andrea Rose

Grade 9 co-ordinator and senior teacher

andreabirdierose@gmail.com