PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti (CMC)— Haiti has recorded three deaths in a 24-hour period, pushing the total number of people who have died from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to 25, health officials have confirmed.

The Ministry of Health in its daily bulletin did not elaborate on the three new deaths, but said that the French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country had recorded 71 new cases, pushing the total of persons testing positive for the virus since March 19, to 734.

It said most of the news cases were men, accounting for 60.4 per cent while women accounted for 39,6 per cent and that the number of active cases in Haiti now stands at 688 cases .

The number of suspected cases had been put at 2,519, while 282 persons are hospitalised and 1, 438 have been quarantined at home.

Haiti is the CARICOM country with the most positive cases and deaths associated with the virus that was first detected in China last December and blamed for nearly 400,000 deaths and five million infections worldwide.

Jamaica, which has 534 cases and nine deaths, is the closest to Haiti among the 15-member CARICOM grouping reporting COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours.

Meanwhile, the council of ministers meeting by video conference, has extended by two months, the state of health emergency in Haiti.

“I have just chaired an extraordinary council of ministers by videoconference. The government has decided to renew the state of health emergency for two months and to make the wearing of the mask compulsory in public places, under penalty of sanctions,” said President Jovenel Moïse.