Jamaica records 16 additional recoveries, eight more cases of COVID-19

The Ministry of Health and Wellness has reported 16 additional recoveries from COVID-19 and eight new confirmed positive cases over the last 24 hours. This brings to 78 the total number of recoveries and to 498 the number of confirmed cases in Jamaica.

The eight new confirmed cases include five males and three females, with ages ranging from 23 to 76 years. Two are imported cases, both of them males, aged 23 and 30 years, are from St. Ann.

The two, who are both asymptomatic and in isolation at a Government facility, were among the 122 persons to return to the island recently under the Controlled Re-entry Programme.

So far, 101 of those 122 persons have been tested. 96 results are in, including the two  positives. 94 are negative and five are pending.

Another two of the newly confirmed cases are a 25-year-old female and a 57-year-old male from the communities under Quarantine in St. Mary.

The communities of Annotto Bay, Dover and Enfield in St. Mary were placed under 14 days’ quarantine, effective Thursday, May 7. The parish health department is currently conducting contact tracing in the communities.

37 samples were collected from Enfield on Thursday. All 37 results have been received and include the two positives, 34 negatives and one pending. The two positive persons have been placed in isolation.

The other four of the eight new cases recorded in the last 24 hours are all contacts of confirmed cases. They are two females and two males from Kingston and St. Andrew with ages ranging from 26 to 76 years.

In the last 24 hours 256 samples have been tested, bringing the total number of samples tested on the island to 6,889.

Of that 6,889, in addition to the 498 positives, there are 6,341 negatives and 50 pending.

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