THE COVID-19 pandemic has so far claimed 65 lives in the Corporate Area where 3,545 cases have already been confirmed.

The figures were released last week by Dr Kimberly Myers, medical officer of health, during a meeting of the Disaster Preparedness and Public Health Committee of the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC).

In her report Myers said that enhanced monitoring of COVID-19 cases had been done in Whitfield Town and in Rae Town, where 12 COVID-19-positive cases were recorded in October.

According to Myers, COVID-19 testing had also been done in Regent Street, Alman Town, Rollington Town in east Kingston, Denham Town, and in the Coronation Market in west Kingston where no cases of the virus were found.

Myers reported that 400 of the 700 plus schools in the Corporate Area had also been inspected and 65 nursing homes.

“We do quarantine and testing of contacts, post-recovery follow-up, workplace intervention and also provide technical support,” said Myers

 She told the committee meeting that where COVID-19 cases were found at hotels in the Corporate Area, the department provided support to relocate the individuals.

Myers claimed that at Norman Manley International Airport health authorities had done assessment of every arriving passenger. 

She said that in the cases where persons coming to the island to do business tested positive for the virus “we work with them and immigration”.

At the seaports, in collaboration with the maritime authorities, the Kingston and St Andrew Public Health Department had to review and verify if persons could leave the ships they arrived on.

In the meantime councillor for the Whitfield Town Division, the People’s National Party’s Eugene Kelly said that residents greatly appreciated the level of professionalism displayed by the health department workers when the community was under enhanced monitoring for cases of COVID-19.

Whitfield Town in lower St Andrew and Waterford in St Catherine were placed under tighter COVID-19 restrictions that included a curfew that started at 6:oo pm each day, running until 5:00 the following morning.

The curfew, which became effective on Tuesday, October 6, was aimed at stemming a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases in the two densely populated communities that were deemed COVID-19 hot spots.

In announcing the lockdown Prime Minister Andrew Holness said Whitfield Town had 21 active cases of the coronavirus while Waterford had 24 active cases and three deaths.

Up to yesterday Jamaica had recorded 11,710 COVID-19 cases with 273 deaths and 7,954 recoveries.

In the 24 hours ending yesterday morning the island recorded 102 new COVID-19 cases as well as two deaths. The two deaths were previously under investigation and include a 61-year-old man from St Catherine and a 79-year-old woman, also from St Catherine.

The new cases consisted of 57 males, 44 females, and one gender under investigation, with ages ranging from four years to 82 years.

They were listed in Hanover, St Thomas, Clarendon and Portland, recording four each; Kingston and St Andrew, 10; Manchester, 13; St Ann, 24; St Catherine, 10; St Elizabeth and St Mary, one each; St James, nine; Trelawny, three; and Westmoreland, 15.

— Claudienne Edwards