Region Two Regional Health Officer, Dr. Ranjeev Singh has said construction is soon to be completed on a $12 million COVID-19 facility at the Suddie Public Hospital to boost treatment at the isolation facilities at Lima Sands and Mainstay.
In an interview with the Department of Public Information on Monday, Dr. Singh said the 20-room facility would comfortably accommodate two persons each.
It would allow more positive cases to be confined, further reducing the risk of transmission, while enabling the hospital to resume its normal functions.
Dr. Singh said the Region continues to record low Covid positive cases because of the strict measures in place to reduce transmission. In keeping with this goal, it has increased its testing capacity by deploying a mobile unit which targets students, residents and miners, particularly those travelling from hotspot communities like Mainstay, Kabakaburi and Capoey.
“Our testing capacity has increased significantly weekly. Sometimes, we do 200 tests in the Region and because of this, it is only fair to say that our cases might increase as well. Most of these cases are asymptomatic and would not need hospitalisation,” he said.
In such instances, the Region dispatches a technical team to monitor the progress of the asymptomatic patients and their families to prevent the spread of the disease. It also conducts contact tracing when a positive case is recorded.
Meanwhile, Dr. Singh said the Region continues to appeal to people flouting the gazetted COVID-19 measures issued by the Ministry of Health to desist from this practice.
“People who are delinquent … we are appealing to them to make sure whenever they are in public that they wear a mask and sanitise. It is very important to note that those who do not have to go out, should not. Before the Christmas season our active cases were actually down, however, it rose as anticipated.”
The RHO reminded residents that it is their responsibility to protect themselves. As of January 11, the Region has 15 active Covid positive cases from a total of 202 recorded.
