Jamaica reports two additional COVID-19 cases, both with travel history to New York

By NewsDesk @infectiousdiseasenews

Jamaica health authorities reported two additional COVID-19 cases Sunday, bringing the island’s total to 34.

The new cases include:

a 34 year-old female from St. James with a travel history from New York and

a 74-year-old female from St. Catherine with a travel history from the New York.

The island has so far tested 292 samples, including tests for Severe Acute Respiratory Infections. Thirty-four (34) of the 292 tested positive and 253 tested negative. This represents a positivity yield of 11.6 percent. Five (5) results are pending and the results will be made available.

In the meantime, the Ministry is making headway with increasing its capacity to test for COVID-19. The extraction process of testing at the National Influenza Centre is being automated for greater efficiency and this will increase the capacity of the number of samples tested to more than 100 daily.

At the National Public Health Laboratory, a COBAS 6800 machine is being installed. In the next three weeks, equipment installation and training of staff will be completed and the facility will be able to complement the work done at the National Influenza Centre with the capacity to test approximately 380 samples per eight hour day.

The Ministry is also to receive additional PCR testing machines from the International Atomic Energy Agency that will further increase the island’s testing capacity.