Covid solutions - CommonPass and Ivermectin

Excerpt from Observer column published January 23, 2021

by Jean Lowrie-Chin

My friend Paula Kerr-Jarrett is hoping that Jamaica will begin using CommonPass soon. She says tourism in Aruba is now booming because their Government, led by Prime Minister Evelyn Wever-Croes, have subscribed to this digital health pass, which, according to a report on the World Economic Forum website, "enables safer travel by allowing people to document their COVID-19 test and vaccination status on their mobile phone and share it in a privacy-preserving manner with airline staff and immigration officials."

We understand from Paula that this was developed by the non-profit organisation The CommonTrust Network, funded by Commons Project Foundation (more information available at press@thecommonsproject.org). She believes that by registering for CommonPass which is a free service, we could see faster recovery of our tourism industry.

Paula also shared positive experiences from the use of drug, Ivermectin in the treatment of Covid-19. Users have reported that by taking the drug three days in a row after getting a positive result, they were symptom free. "This is a low-cost way of treating Covid," she noted.

She shared a report which noted, "Ivermectin has been used for more than 30 years for the treatment of several diseases. More than one million doses of the drug are administered daily, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Due to the low prevalence of adverse events with the use of this drug, ivermectin is considered to have a good safety profile and its potential benefit in other diseases is currently under investigation. An in vitro study of ivermectin in SARS-CoV-2 in Australia showed a significant reduction of viral load in infected cells. Subsequently, a descriptive study of 704 critical patients with COVID-19 showed a reduction in mortality, hospitalization, and intensive care unit length-of-stay in those patients who received the drug."

We do hope the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Health and Wellness will explore the benefits of CommonPass and treatment of Covid-19 with Ivermectin.