"Government entities alone cannot
do all the testing necessary to control the spread of COVID-19. They should instead focus on allowing people to reliably
get tested whenever they want. It can be done"
He is suggesting another way.
"We ought to facilitate people
in easily visiting the doctor or healthcare provider of their choice
and subjecting them to
a simple finger stick test and
getting the results in 15 minutes." The current approach, he maintains, is
not only cumbersome but
somewhat disjointed.
The system Jones is advocating would
allow for mandatory testing for police, teachers,health care professionals and
other
frontline workers as well as
Correctional Officers, hotel staff, workers in large manufacturing facilities
and other corporations,
at least once per month.
This test kit, according to data
Jones has made available, can pick up someone in as little as three to five
days after
a person gets infected, even if
there are no symptoms. It can allow for differentiation between the Novel
coronavirus and
the common cold or influenza -
therefore providing peace of mind for persons who may "have the
sniffles"
and might be worried that they are
in danger. Even further, the kit can not only tell you if you are
infected, it can tell
if an infected individual is, in
fact, improving and how soon one might get back to work or school or other
activity.
"We have these kits right now
and could be using them now but we are having a problem getting
the permits" he points out ,
adding, "the kits are a hundred percent accurate." Jamaicans, the
pioneering medical
researcher says, are living in a self-imposed
state of denial, merely counting the tally of the virus on a daily
basis, which he argues can never
offer a solution.
"We need to be proactive, not
reactive, and test monthly on a wide scale for 3 months consecutively. We know
that the
virus is transmitted through the air
into the nasal upper respiratory tract. We also know that it takes as little as
10 of the viral
RNA particle to become infected, and
that the heavier the dose at infection brings on a stronger reaction of
infection"
That, he says, and the fact that in
the 3-5 days when most immune response can be picked up,the infectiousness
is very high, makes widespread testing a much more efficient strategy for
transmission control than any of the restrictions currently being implemented
in and of themselves,
"At that time, is when you
really need to be quarantined, and for contact tracing to be carried out;
IGM antibodies last for
another 8 days. then after the
recovery begins. After 14 - 28 days, the body starts showing the IGG antibody
and after 28 days being without symptoms ( fever, coughing etc ) for 2 to 3
days after you are no longer infectious, even if you do an antigen test and it
shows positives picking up dead virus. "
That cycle, he says, allows for more
efficient testing of persons, "We test John on day one and he shows no
response, an antibody IGM reaction and then you test John on day 28,
and he shows no antibody response
that means that during the month, John was not infected. He gets a card saying
such and continues for 3 months. On
a large scale you can now know precisely how many persons are
infected and how many are not
infected. Secondly, those persons tested will have a distinct sense of
Peace of Mind.
know your status get tested,
take personal responsibility. That, Jones insists, ought to be the mantra and
the position of the Government with respect to tackling the COVID pandemic in
Jamaica and bringing it under control. Widespread testing with rapid results
and
a far less invasive procedure than
the nasopharyngical swab.can offer certitude and greater business
opportunity to the tourism
manufacturing and other vital
sectors of the economy
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