MIXX102

The number of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 jumped to 463 on Saturday, with 31 confirmations reported by the Ministry of Health & Wellness.

Of the 31 new cases, there are 11 males and 20 females, ranging in age from eight to 72.

Seven of the new cases are employees of the Alorica call centre in St Catherine; five are contacts of employees of the call centre, and 19 are under investigation.

There are now 217 confirmed COVID-19 cases related to Alorica, 163 of them females and 54 males.

According to the health ministry, the infected employees are from the parishes of St. Catherine and Kingston & St. Andrew.

There are now 35 imported cases, 145 that are contacts of a confirmed case, nine that are local transmissions, not epidemiologically linked, and 274 that are under investigation.

Two hundred and seventeen of those under investigation are linked to Alorica. Recovery, testing

Thirty-three patients have recovered from the coronavirus, according to the Ministry of Health & Wellness.

There are now 433 others in isolation and 88 in quarantine in a government facility. Eight persons have died of the virus on Jamaica, including a 4 year old boy.

Of the number of confirmed cases, 286 (62%) are females and 177 males. The ages of all the confirmed cases range from two months to 87 years.

The Ministry of Health & Wellness says 5,215 samples have so far been tested. Of the tested samples, 4,716 have returned negative and 36 are pending.

There has recently been an increase in testing for the virus. Four hundred and thirty six samples were tested on the weekend; 85 at the National Influenza Centre and 351 at the National Public Health Laboratory.