Jamaica highlighted for best practices in contact tracing

THE island’s public health system has been highlighted by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) for best practices in COVID-19 contact tracing.

Speaking at PAHO’s weekly press briefing yesterday, Assistant Director Dr Jarbas Barbosa named Jamaica, along with Costa Rica and Argentina, for doing “particularly well” with this aspect of the prevention and control machinery, against the spread of the novel coronavirus.

He credited strong laboratory surveillance systems that have enabled Caribbean countries to be disciplined about imposing restrictions and tightening public health measures when there are new infections, while keeping sectors such as tourism afloat.
He stressed that surveillance data is the “instruction manual” that countries must use to fine-tune their response, based on how the virus spreads.

Dr Barbosa emphasised that countries must, therefore, prioritise contact tracing to stem the spread of COVID-19, and adjust their approaches according to emerging patterns.

He noted, however, that PAHO is not ranking countries on their performance in dealing with the virus, but is pointing to the best practices in specific protocols.

“It is not the same as saying they [Jamaica and other countries] are doing everything well…we are giving these examples to call the attention of other countries to this very important aspect, but we are not ranking the countries, we are recognising them to share their efforts. All the countries are doing the best that they can,” he stated. (Jamaica Observer)