MINISTER of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton has revealed that there has been an uptick in the positivity rate for COVID-19 in Jamaica.

The minister said that the proportion of positive COVID-19 cases has shown an increase over the last month, from 12 confirmed cases on June 12 to 35 cases on July 10.

“Of that number, 13 were moderately ill and one critically ill. There were no severely ill patients up to the point of this statement or when the last checks were done. COVID is still very present in our population,” said Tufton.

He said, however, that his statement is not an attempt at alarming the population as while there has been an uptick in cases, “in a sense, the comforting aspect of that is that we are not seeing any major uptick of deaths or even hospitalisation”.

He was addressing Tuesday’s sitting of the House of Representatives.

Tufton addressed that matter after concerns were raised on Sunday by Leader of Opposition Business and Member of Parliament of Kingston East and Port Royal Phillip Paulwell, who said that COVID-19 cases were climbing and causing a problem at health facilities in his constituency.

Tufton, in addressing the issue Tuesday, said that based on the number of COVID-19 tests done, it was clear that the proportion of positives was increasing, but claimed that the actual numbers do not show a consistent increase and that cases remain relatively low.

“Over the past four weeks there has been an average of 87 confirmed cases. The number of cases is not increasing. The average seven-day positivity rate is about 22 per cent and is clearly higher than what we would like to see. Of note, the circulating variant is the highly transmissible Omicron variant. The last batches of genomic sequencing done on samples collected in March and April showed that its sub-variants were prevalent,” Tufton said.

Indicating that more cases could be out there, Dr Tufton said that many people were not being tested for COVID-19 because if they come down with a condition they tend to resort to home remedies.

“Even if they have a particular condition, more often than not they attempt to treat it at home and so this doesn’t necessarily mean that these are the numbers. Except to say where one turns up at accident and emergency with a respiratory-related illnesses, there is an automatic test that is part of the assessment. The Ministry of Health continues to encourage Jamaicans to observe the infection prevention and control protocols. Although COVID-19 numbers are relatively low, a continued increase in the positivity rate may result in the increase in hospital numbers. People who are vulnerable, such as the elderly and those with co-morbid illnesses, are still at risk of severe illnesses and should be shielded by adhering to hand washing, hand sanitising, the wearing of masks, and being consistent with sneezing and coughing etiquette.”

On Sunday at a People’s National Party divisional conference in Kingston Eastern, Paulwell said he was concerned about reports he has been receiving from across the island that hospitals are in a state of crisis, and encouraged Jamaicans to wear masks and cover up when in crowds.

“We have gotten reports from East Kingston and Port Royal that many of our people are contracting COVID. People are becoming sick and it is not being told to the Jamaican people. We have a responsibility to tell our people that COVID has not died. We need to be careful, especially at public events,” Paulwell warned.

As of July 10, Kingston and St Andrew accounted for the highest number of COVID-19 cases recorded since March 10, 2020 with 41,440, St Catherine followed with 27, 899, and St James with 17,897. St Ann recorded 11,491 while Manchester accounted for 8,876.

As of July 10, 2023, according to Dr Tufton, Jamaica had 155,455 cases of COVID-19 and 3,586 deaths.

Globally, roughly 767 million positive COVID-19 cases have been reported, which has led to seven million deaths.