Mayor calls for more testing sites, kits in St Catherine
Published:Tuesday | April 21, 2020 | 12:09 AMJason Cross/Gleaner Writer
Spanish Town Mayor Norman Scott has appealed to Prime Minister Andrew Holness to increase the number of COVID-19 testing sites and kits throughout St Catherine, especially since residents may have come in contact with workers from the Alorica call centre in Portmore – the epicentre of a national spike.
The Ministry of Health & Wellness confirmed 27 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday, bringing the islandwide total to 223. Twenty-six of the new cases are linked to Alorica.
Scott, who is chairman of the People’s National Party (PNP)-led St Catherine Municipal Corporation, bemoaned the testing regime as inadequate and accused the Government of not including the Opposition in making critical decisions.
Scott was speaking yesterday during a PNP press conference via Zoom.
“Going forward, I would like to see Government increasing testing sites, because it is not just Portmore alone that has the problem. I am calling for additional testing sites to be opened in a number of areas in St Catherine, like Spanish Town, Linstead, Old Harbour, Ewarton, Bog Walk, Guy’s Hill.”
Scott said that residents in those towns – some in far-flung reaches of the parish – may be vulnerable to the Alorica wave.
“We can get this thing together,” he said.
Alorica spike
The parish has been placed on a 14-day lockdown after Alorica presented a surge in cases, with the 120 COVID-19 positives representing 15 per cent of its workforce of almost 800. National numbers have hit 223.
Alorica shuttered its Portmore and Kingston offices last week, but Holness yesterday announced the closure of all call centres for 14 days as a precautionary measure. Work-from-home arrangements are allowed.
The mayor told The Gleaner last night that the three sites set up in Portmore for testing Alorica workers and their contacts were inadequate.
“I am informed that 30 test kits were sent to each of the three sites, which means that a total of 90 persons would have been tested at these sites. I am told that in one instance, over 100 persons went to one of the sites,” he said.
Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton revealed that 1,889 COVID-19 tests have been conducted so far.
Scott said, too, that the prime minister has not co-opted his assistance in the fight against the new coronavirus.
“I have a communication issue with the prime minister and the minister of health,” he said. “... What I saw in Spanish Town, Linstead and Old Harbour on Saturday, social distancing was nowhere evident, because of poor planning.”
The Government yesterday added another shopping day for commuters in the parish.