DCS Receives Medical, Sanitation Supplies From Centers For Disease Control
By: , July 1, 2021
Photo: Mark Bell
Minister without portfolio in the Ministry of National Security, Senator the Hon. Matthew Samuda (left) and Commissioner of Corrections, Lieutenant Colonel (Ret’d) Gary Rowe (right), look at a piece of medical equipment, which was among medical and sanitation items donated to the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) by the United States (US) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Caribbean Regional Office. Looking on is Chargé d'Affaires at the United States (US) Embassy in Jamaica, John McIntyre, who handed over the items at the Ministry of National Security in St. Andrew on Tuesday (June 29).The Full Story
The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) has received a donation of medical and sanitation supplies valued at more than $4.5 million from the United States (US) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Caribbean Regional Office.
The items, to support the DCS’ coronavirus (COVID-19) infection prevention and control programme in penal institutions, were handed over during a ceremony held on Tuesday (June 29), at the Ministry of National Security’s Oxford Road offices in St. Andrew.
Included are single-use face masks, non-contact thermometers, Automated External Defibrillator (AED), vital signs monitor, monitor rolling stands, medicine trolley, nebulising kits, eight-gallon sharps container, surface sanitiser and hand sanitiser.
Minister without portfolio in the Ministry of National Security, Senator the Hon. Matthew Samuda, expressed gratitude for the donation.
“We are grateful for our partners at the CDC, that they were able to facilitate our requests at such a timely interval, when we were having particular challenges,” he said.
He reported that as at June 24, there were no active COVID-19 cases in the country’s correctional facilities.
He noted that 178 persons had been infected with the virus across the 3,700 inmate population.
“This is impressive when we consider rates of infection within some of the institutions within our region and Central America. This is testament to the work being done by the team,” the Minister said.
Chargé d’ Affaires at the US Embassy in Kingston, John McIntyre, said that the donation complements the $700 million that the US has committed to Jamaica to contain the spread of the pandemic.
“That will keep going, it is not stopping,” he noted.
Meanwhile, Director of Medical Services at the DCS, Dr. Donna Michelle Royer-Powe, said that the supplies will be of significant benefit to the 11 correctional facilities.
She noted that the “health and safety of inmates is one of our highest priorities, and we are grateful for this contribution”.