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Jamaica now has 288 confirmed cases of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), with the addition of 31 new cases over the last 24 hours.
The 31 additions come in the wake of the island having boosted its testing capacity, with the commissioning of the new COBAS machine at the National Public Health Laboratory in Kingston. It complements the testing being done at the National Influenza Centre, also in the capital.
There were 304 tests done over the last 24 hours, 205 at the National Public Health Laboratory and 99 at the National Influenza Centre.
Meanwhile, the 31 new positives are comprised of 12 males and 19 females, who range in age from two months to 72 years. Further, 25 of the 31 are associated with the workplace cluster in St Catherine and six (6) are under investigation.
Jamaica now has:
34 imported cases;
8 that are local transmission with no epidemiological link;
155 that are local transmission linked to the workplace cluster;
68 that are contacts of a confirmed case; and
23 that are under investigation.
So far, 2,518 samples have been tested. In addition to the 288 that have returned positive results:
2,221 are negative; and
9 are pending.
There are 288 persons in isolation and 91 in quarantine in a Government facility. Seven people, including a four-year-old child, have died. Twenty-eight (28) persons have recovered.
“The team at the Ministry of Health and Wellness expresses condolences to the family of our latest and youngest person to have died from COVID-19, who had a chronic co-morbid condition,” said Dr Christopher Tufton, Minister of Health and Wellness.
“We urge Jamaicans to remain vigilant in their infection prevention and control measures – including physical distancing and frequent hand washing with soap – as we work to disrupt the transmission of COVID-19,” said Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton.