THE NORWOOD community, on the outskirts of Montego Bay, St James, was yesterday placed under community surveillance by the Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA) after several positive COVID-19 cases were discovered.
According to a WRHA release, some 40 members of the authority’s healthcare team, including nurses, public health inspectors, public health nurses, and community health aides, descended on the community, conducting house-to-house visits to assess the residents for respiratory symptoms.
In a Gleaner interview late yesterday, Stephen Davidson, the director of public relations and communications in the Ministry of Health & Wellness, confirmed that 15 cases of COVID-19 had been linked to the community, prompting the decision to place Norwood under surveillance.
“The health team is on the ground in the community going house-to-house, doing temperature checks and swabbing of residents to determine their status,” explained Davidson.
The WRHA release noted that “the index (the point of entry) case has been isolated in a government facility and so far 13 close contacts were tested, which resulted in seven positives, two negatives and four samples are pending.”
