Deportee tests positive for COVID-19
News reports in Jamaica are reporting one of the 46 deportees who recently arrived on the island from the United States last week has tested positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19).
This was confirmed by both Jamaica's Prime Minister Andrew Holness and the Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton, as they answered questions from journalists at a Jamaica House press conference on Monday.
Confirming the positive test, the Jamaican Prime Minister was mindful of the concerns of the Jamaican public in receiving the deportees from the Unites States during this Covid-19 global pandemic crisis.
"As it relates to our obligations…Jamaica has ensured that we make a balance. We keep our obligations but at the same time must protect the health of our citizens. In that regard, we insisted on ensuring that anyone we take into the island we test them. So all the persons who have been deported to Jamaica they have been tested and they have been placed in quarantine,” the prime minister said.
Health Minister Tufton added: “We’re still awaiting some additional information on the others. As soon as we have that information we will provide it. In the meantime, the protocol would chip in once we have a positive case and that is being followed through as we speak."
The 46 deportees boarded a chartered flight that landed at the Norman International Airport last Tuesday in Kingston in the midst of increasing concerns that they could be infected with the coronavirus. The concerns are not unwarranted since the United States has now logged more than one million of the over three million COVID-19 cases worldwide, making it by far the worst affected country.
As of today Jamaica has 364 confirmed cases and seven deaths. Meanwhile the Caribbean region has more than 2,000 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 virus
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