KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton has denied reports that health care workers have tested positive for COVID-19.

“No health workers have tested positive,” he told the Jamaica Observer Sunday morning.

“[It's] not true.”

Media reports quoted the health minister as saying frontline workers in the fight against the pneumonia-like virus, including doctors and nurses, had tested positive for COVID-19 and were not being included in the official statistics.

The latest figures provided by the Ministry of Health and Wellness indicate that there are 19 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the island, and one death.