Coronavirus could spoil Christmas - 12-y-o among latest fatalities
A 12-year-old boy from Manchester is one of Jamaica's two latest COVID-19 deaths, bringing the number of fatalities to 38.
The other individual, also from Manchester, is an 80-year-old woman. Both had comorbidities. Jamaica now has 3,437 COVID cases, after 114 new cases were also recorded yesterday.
Also yesterday, the British Government banned gatherings of more than six people, a measure which could last until next March. Some see it as the authorities 'cancelling Christmas'.
Opposition spokesman on health, Dr Morais Guy, said that the Jamaican government may have to consider similar moves should positive COVID-19 cases continue to increase.
"Christmas can't be cancelled ... the celebrations of Christmas can be cancelled," he told THE STAR. "It is something that the government may have to consider, because the gatherings are what create the potential of spreading." On September 4, the health ministry announced that Jamaica had reached the community spread phase of the virus.
Can get it from anyone
"You don't necessarily have to rely on getting the infection from somebody who is known to be a contact. You can get it from anyone out there...that's the way it has to go now. One has to assume that everybody has COVID," Guy said. At present, 1,814 COVID cases are under investigation. Meanwhile, members of the local clergy oppose any consideration of cancelling Christmas events.
"I think it's an overreach by the UK Prime Minister," Reverend Stephen Smith told THE STAR. Reverend Everton Jackson, director of integral mission at the Baptist World Alliance, said that countries are likely to respond uniquely, as they tackle COVID-19.
"While the circumstances surrounding the impact of the coronavirus are similar from country to country, the response to contain its spread might differ due to different considerations. It is understood that safety and security must be given top priority in what restrictions are imposed, but the extent to which those measures are implemented might differ," he said. "It is my prayer though that the spread will be contained quickly so that further stringent measures might not have to be contemplated."
Jackson says it might be prudent for the British Government to impose such stringent measures because of the comparative strength of its economy to withstand an economic fallout, but the reality is different in Jamaica.
"While it might be desirable for similar measures to be implemented in Jamaica, there might be variations, given other factors that would have to be taken into consideration," he said.