Guy calls for more daily COVID testing at gov’t facilities - But Tufton says doctors decide based on examinations

Opposition spokesman on health, Dr Morais Guy, is calling on the Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton, to remove the limit on COVID-19 testing at government facilities and to ensure that as many persons as possible are tested each day.

"There should be an increase in testing, and every person who shows up for testing should be guaranteed a test sample," he said via a press release yesterday. Guy said he had received information showing that only 25 test samples are conducted per day at St Joseph's Hospital in Kingston. He said this is the wrong approach and goes against the convention of testing as many persons as possible to eliminate all the potential risk factors.

"The limitation on testing is also counter-intuitive because we are currently experiencing a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases from the rise in transmissibility of the current variant, and for this reason, we would want to do more testing, not less," he said. Guy said the limit on testing from a public health point of view would give a false impression regarding the number of persons with COVID-19.

However, Tufton, in responding to Guy's suggestion, said that there is no limit or quota to the number of persons who are tested daily.

"Doctors determine who gets tested based on their examination," he told THE STAR. When asked about the emergence of what scientists have termed 'flurona', which describes the condition of being infected with COVID-19 and the flu simultaneously, Tufton said the possibility is real, "particularly at this time of year".

"But with mask wearing and sanitising, plus flu and COVID shots, this can be avoided or impact minimised," he said.

As of Monday, Jamaica's positivity rate was at 40.6 per cent based on data for reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction tests and public sector COVID rapid antigen testing.

Jamaica's positivity rate had showed positive signs heading into the new year. Tufton on Sunday noted that between December 12 and 18, the country was in the green zone of less than five per cent positivity, with the rate falling as low as 3.8 per cent. However, he said that from December 19 to 25, the positivity rate was 8.8 per cent, and had climbed to 21 per cent subsequently.

The country has recorded 96,331 positive cases, with 2,479 deaths. There have been 3,467 active cases recorded in the last two weeks.