The Government on Saturday announced plans to set up multiple field hospitals as Jamaica recovers from Hurricane Melissa, with the death toll climbing to 28.

Hospitals in western Jamaica were particularly hard hit by the Category 5 storm last Tuesday.

Work on the first field hospital is set to begin on Sunday, November 2, in Black River, St Elizabeth, with the support of international humanitarian organisation Samaritan’s Purse, Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton told a media briefing on Saturday.

“That facility will come fully equipped, which will include an operating theatre and other critical diagnostic equipment, and some team members to support the local team,” he said.

In addition to Black River, field hospitals are to be set up at Savanna-la-mar in Westmoreland; Falmouth, Trelawny; Noel Holmes in Hanover; and Cornwall Regional in St James.

Tufton said that the Government has already confirmed offers for field hospitals from the Indian, Canadian and Spanish governments.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Labour and Social Security says it has, along with some of its major humanitarian assistance partners, distributed food, water and care packages to patients and staff of Black River Hospital.

At the same time, the international community has continued to send aid to Jamaica.

Among the donors are the World Food Programme, which announced that it has assisted the Government with logistics, communications, and cash-based support, delivering 5,000 food kits — enough to feed 15,000 people for a week; and the Government of the Dominican Republic which has dispatched a Navy vessel with more than 1,050,000 food rations, mattresses, sheets, blankets, mosquito nets, and box springs, among other relief supplies.

Meanwhile, Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie has reported that significant progress has been made in clearing major roads. He said that travel from Kingston to Lucea, Hanover, is now accessible via the Class A road; the main southern route from Santa Cruz to Black River has been cleared; and the Holland Bamboo main road has been reopened to single-lane traffic.

At the same time, Jamaica Public Service Company said it has so far restored supply to 150,000 customers across several parishes.

Jamaica Defence Force soldiers deliver relief packages to Hurricane Melissa victims in Black River.