Nine die from COVID

The Ministry of Health and Wellness has reported nine deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, as the death toll from the infectious and deadly disease now appears to be rising at a higher rate.

Fatalities from the disease are now 566.

The nine people are from the Corporate Area, St Elizabeth and Manchester. They are:

• A 92-year-old man; an 82-year-old woman; a 59-year-old woman; and a 66-year-old woman all from St. Elizabeth.
• A 69-year-old man; an 87-year-old woman; a 69-year-old woman; and a 93-year-old man from all from Kingston and St. Andrew.
• An 89-year-old woman from Manchester was reported as the ninth person to have died yesterday.

Meanwhile, the number of cases being treated in the nation's hospitals remains high, with 427 now in hospital. Forty-one of those are critically ill and 45 are experiencing moderate symptoms. 

The number of new cases, however, have fallen significantly, with 289 confirmed cases recorded yesterday, increasing the number of overall cases since last year to 37,747. The positivity rate has also fallen to 22.6 per cent. 

However, there are still nearly 20,000 active cases of COVID-19 in Jamaica. 

The Corporate Area, comprising Kingston and St Andrew, accounted for the highest number of new confirmed cases, recording 92 yesterday. St Catherine had 81, Clarendon 29, Manchester 24, Portland 21; St Elizabeth and St Thomas 13, Westmoreland six, St Mary three, St James four, Hanover two and Trelawny one. There were no new cases in St Ann. 

One hundred and sixty-eight people recovered from the illness yesterday, bringing total recoveries to 17,016 or 45 per cent. 

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