Chief Medical Officer,  Dr. Jacquiline Bisasor Mckenzie is warning that hospital services will be immensely affected should the number of COVID 19 admissions continue to rise.

Speaking at Thursday’s COVID conversations press briefing, the CMO noted, that hospitals are still facing difficulty in providing some services, due to the relocating of beds to COVID 19 wards.

She said about 7-hundred beds are reserved for COVID 19 admissions, with over 5-hundred being taken out of general use.

However, according to the CMO, if this increase is maintained, it will have an adverse effect on the health sector,  going back to conditions experienced at the peak of the pandemic.

She said, should the reserved beds reach capacity, the ministry will be forced to pull more beds from general use.

Dr. Bisasor -Mckenzie added, that should the Delta variant, which is said to have a higher transmission rate, be present in the country, there is a high possibility, that the rate at which persons are being admitted, will continue to increase.

The country has been seeing an uptick in COVID 19 cases with the country recording 144 new cases Thursday.  Meantime, the government will be looking to implement a new field hospital in May Pen Clarendon, as it prepares for an increase in COVID 19 admissions.

Dr. Bisasor-Mckenzie noted, that the new field hospital, will provide an additional 40 COVID19 beds, and will be done with the support of the United States’ South Command.

She said, it is expected to be delivered by the end of this week, and will be set up in another 5 days.

The CMO added that the government also has a loan arrangement for two additional field hospitals to be delivered, through an arrangement between the National Health Fund and a private entity.

The CMO said, the additional two field hospitals are already in the country, but will only be used if there is a continued upward trend in COVID 19 admissions.