By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Senior Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

HEALTH Minister Renward Wells said the COVID-19 positivity rate is now 21 percent, far higher than the low of three percent in February and the World Health Organisation’s recommendation that the rate not exceed five percent.

During debate yesterday in the House of Assembly on a resolution to extend the Emergency Powers Orders, Mr Wells also made another plea for people to get the bodies of their loved ones from the morgue at Princess Margaret Hospital, noting the facility is functioning way beyond its capacity.

Mr Wells noted that all COVID-19 indicators are trending up.

He said for six consecutive weeks, beginning on June 13 and ending July 31, the average daily new COVID-19 cases has increased “by a rising number of 83.6 points,” the same average recorded at the peak for the second wave during the week of October 11, 2020.

Mr Wells said the first wave lasted 16 weeks and claimed 11 lives; the second wave lasted 34 weeks and claimed 170 lives. He said the country is in the midst of the third wave, with 126 lives already lost, 41 percent of total deaths.

However, he noted the case fatality rate is 1.9 percent, slightly lower than the 2.1 percent experienced during the second wave. He attributed the slight decline to the ongoing vaccination programme.

Mr Wells insisted that overcrowding at the morgue is not due to COVID-19 “but to individuals awaiting for what they deem to be a more appropriate time to bury their loved ones.”

Ordinarily, the morgue can contain only 75 bodies but now has 260 bodies. Mr Wells said the Public Hospitals Authority has secured refrigerated trailers that has allowed it to increase its capacity to 170 bodies.

“If the current state of affairs continue,” he said, “the government will take the legal means it has used and employed in the past to alleviate this circumstance.”

Mr Wells said data shows more people are testing positive for COVID-19 using antigen tests. However, he said, many sites are performing unauthorised antigen tests.

“They must seek authorisation by emailing their request to the Chief Medical Officer,” he said. “The process to online authorisation then begins.”

Mr Wells said since the start of the pandemic, his ministry “has supported the testing and detection of close to 15,800 suspected cases.”

“We have traced over 30,000 contacts,” he added. “We have investigated up to 1,500 clusters of COVID-19 and flagged high-risk events throughout the country.

“Our national testing capacity has expanded significantly since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Testing capabilities in the public sector include genexpert machine, bio-fire machine, panther machine and technologies at the national reference lab and PMH.”