Two more people have died from COVID-19, as the case count from the infectious respiratory disease continues to rise in Jamaica and around the world.
The two latest victims are an 86 year-old man from Trelawny and a 78 year-old woman from the Corporate Area, the Ministry of Health and Wellness reports.
Their deaths now bring the country’s total fatalities to 350 people in less than a year- most of them elderly.
From Sunday to Saturday last week alone 13 people died. And since the start of 2021, about 68 people have died.
In response, last week the government again announced enhanced measures to control the quickly spreading virus, placing a tighter curfew on the parish of Manchester, where the rate of positive cases rose significantly. But, at the same time, giving into intense lobbying from some quarters, it loosened some of the restrictions on gatherings at funerals and burials; passenger load on public buses; and the hosting of sporting events, which must first receive approval.
Several in hospital
Up to yesterday, eight people were critically ill in hospital and six were experiencing moderate symptoms of the disease, while a total of 95 were in hospital seeking treatment, the ministry reported.
Two new deaths are also being investigated, making the number deaths being probed now 34.
Overall there were 126 new cases of COVID-19 in Jamaica yesterday, with Manchester accounting for 23- the highest number among any of the 14 parishes.
Kingston and St Andrew had 22 new cases and St Catherine 19. Clarendon had 16 new cases; St Elizabeth 15; St James 12; Trelawny seven; St Thomas and Westmoreland, two cases each; and Hanover and Portland each had one new case of COVID-19. St Mary was the only parish that did not record a new case of the disease yesterday.
Notwithstanding, 39 more people recovered from the respiratory illness on Saturday, bringing the total recoveries to date to 12,043 from 15,653 infections since March 2020, or nearly 77 per cent of people who have contracted COVID-19 so far.
