COVID tally now at 233 after 10 new cases today

The Health Ministry says there were 10 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Jamaica today pushing the tally to 233.

The new cases include the five Health Ministry employees earlier reported.

Three others are linked to the Alorica call centre in Portmore, St Catherine while two are under investigation.

Case log
Imported cases - 34
Local transmission not linked - 8
Contacts of a confirmed case - 52 
Under investigation - 139 (including 124 cases at Alorica and 15 others)

Testing
Samples tested - 1,936 
Positive - 233
Negative - 1,695
Pending - Eight 

Patient log
In isolation - 184
In quarantine in government facility - 24
Deaths - Six
Recoveries - 27 

The ministry said tracing is being done to determine the level of exposure to its team members who may have been in contact with the five health workers tested positive today. 

"They will be monitored by the health team and provided with the necessary support during this period," said a Health Ministry spokesperson in a statement.

Still, their test results have caused significant anxiety, prompting the Ministry to initiate steps to calm the fears of all staff, the spokesperson said. 

Those steps include making available counselling services for those who need them.

In addition, members of the team are now on home quarantine for 14 days while others have been asked to work from home based on the risk assessment done.

The ministry said it has conducted an intense cleaning exercise for all its offices and completed the cleaning of the Emergency Operation Centre to ensure that it remains functional. 

It said the staff in the centre has also been staggered to ensure greater levels of physical distancing.

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