Westmoreland Health Department increases COVID-19 awareness

The Westmoreland Health Department has increased its coronavirus (COVID-19) awareness drive to increase citizens' awareness about the virus as the coronavirus cases are rising in the parish Of Westmoreland, Jamaica.

Jamaica: The Westmoreland Health Department has increased its coronavirus (COVID-19) awareness drive to increase citizens’ awareness about the virus as the coronavirus cases are rising in the parish Of Westmoreland, Jamaica.

Health Promotion and Education Officer, Gerald Miller, stated that public health personnel had been employed in sensitisation sessions crossed the parish, reinforcing the need for people to put into use the infection prevention and control standards established by the Government.

Gerald Miller prescribed to the public to opt the measures include the wearing of masks, physical distancing and regular washing and sanitising of hands.

Miller added that weekly visits are made to the Savana-la-Mar market, where masks and hand sanitisers are allotted.

“We target the market section every Friday. We move into the market district with a megaphone, and we employ the persons because that’s one of the wounded areas where you don’t see the sign of the social distancing and the mask-wearing. What we do is apply the megaphone to caution them of the protocols and, sometimes, we give out masks to people,” he stated.

Miller told that the National Council for Senior Citizens (NCSC) in the parish has partnered by the health department on the initiative, by engaging elderly merchants and citizens.

He pointed out that” We joined some of the seniors because they are very unsafe, so we specifically handed out masks and sanitisers to the seniors. Who we recognised had on masks, but some of these masks were not clean, We reminded them of the risks of catching COVID-19 and the seriousness of it for them”.

He told that one of the things noted is that most of the older persons are likely to use a mask.

“They are major compliant with the protocols than the younger population, they are seeing the warning from the National Council for Senior Citizens, as they have been out there providing information,” he noted.

Miller pointed out that clinics are also used “to beef up public education”, noting that visits are made to the DrugServ Pharmacy at the Savanna-la-Mar Hospital at least three times per week, “and we use the megaphones to remind the persons religiously, about the protocols”.

He remarked that the National Health Fund (NHF) also funded an initiative where town criers were used in the five health districts over the parish “to remind persons about mask-wearing and the sanitising of hands”.

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