#KINGSTON, May 13 (JIS): Health and Wellness Minister,  Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, has reported that three more persons who arrived in the island last week from the United Kingdom under the controlled re-entry programme have tested positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19).

The new cases bring to six the number of repatriated individuals that have now tested positive for the virus.

Dr. Tufton, who was speaking at a virtual press conference on May 11, at the Office of the Prime Minister Media Centre in Kingston, said the three new cases are two males and one female, with ages ranging from 19 to 28 years.

Of note, the Minister indicated that the emerging new cases from the recent batch of returning residents justified the position that the Government had taken for the institutional quarantining of those returning, for 14 days.

“Otherwise, we would have another set of challenges on our hands, so I think it is important to note,” he added.

As it relates to the number of COVID-19 cases on the island, the new cases have pushed the figure to 507.

Of that total, 41 are imported cases; 190 cases are contacts of confirmed cases and 24 are local transmission cases, not epidemiologically linked.

Additionally, 250 are under investigation, of which 224 are linked to the workplace cluster at Alorica in Portmore, St. Catherine.

“Some 304 or 60 per cent of the confirmed cases are females… while the ages of all confirmed cases range from two months to 87 years,” the Minister said, while highlighting that 100 individuals have since recovered, and nine have died.

Also, 422 patients are in isolation and 126 persons of interest are in quarantine at a government facility.

JIS NEWS by TANESHA MUNDLE