Construction is soon to be completed on a $12 million COVID-19 isolation facility at the Suddie Public Hospital, Region Two Regional Health Officer Dr Ranjeev Singh has said
Singh told the Department of Public Information (DPI) in an interview last week that the 20-room facility would allow more positive cases to be confined, further reducing the risk of transmission while enabling the hospital to resume its normal functions.
Singh was reported as saying that the region continues to record low COVID-19 cases because of the strict measures in place to reduce transmission. In keeping with its approach, he said 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 was quoted as saying.
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, 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,” he emphasised, while reminding that it is every resident’s responsibility to protect themselves.
Up to yesterday, the Region had recorded a total of 217 cases, making it the region with the second lowest number of cases in the country.
