KINGSTON, Jamaica— Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr Jacquiline Bisasor-McKenzie, says the four people who recently died from the coronavirus (COVID-19), including a 37-year-old, all suffered from co-morbid illnesses.

Dr Bisasor-McKenzie was speaking during the weekly virtual COVID Conversations press briefing on Thursday.

The CMO said it is very important that persons understand the serious risk that COVID-19 poses for persons with co-morbidities.

“Again we see featuring very prominently, diabetes and renal impairment, and so we just want the public to pay attention to this, because persons who have these illnesses, we must protect them and they must protect themselves,” she said.

She added that three of the four victims- two females and two males-had contact with a foreigner.

“Again this speaks to the fact that we have persons who have these conditions that make them vulnerable to a more severe illness, but yet there is this constant continuous entertainment and mingling with persons that come from overseas,” she noted.

The CMO said that a number of persons who are coming from overseas have tested positive, and again warned persons who suffer from co-morbid diseases to stay away from persons who have been possibly exposed to the virus.

In the meantime, Dr Bisasor-McKenzie also shared that health professionals are seeing gastrointestinal symptoms in the elderly and are asking persons to take in their elderly relatives to the doctor to be tested for the virus if they are vomiting and are having diarrhoea.

As of today, August 15, Jamaica has recorded 14 COVID-19 related deaths. The number of positive cases in the island stands at 1,082 cases, of which 245 are active. The country has also recorded 761 recoveries.