Jamaica’s COVID-19 Cases Increase To 143

Jamaica now has 143 confirmed coronavirus (COVID-19) cases.

Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, gave the update on Thursday (April 16), during a virtual press conference from his New Kingston offices.

Dr. Tufton said that of the 143 cases, 18 were confirmed within the last 24 hours. Five are males and 13 are females ranging in age from four to 56.

The Minister said that three cases are contacts of a confirmed case, while 15 are under investigation.

“There is some suspicion that a number of them are linked to the [Alorica] call centre in Portmore, but we are still investigating,” Dr. Tufton noted. Already, 52 cases are linked to Alorica.

The Minister informed that 23 persons have recovered from COVID-19 in Jamaica, and there have been five deaths.

A total of 1,424 samples from persons have been tested, who have shown signs of COVID-19 infection.

SOURCE: JIS