Linstead Among Places Where COVID Is Concentrated – PM

Linstead Among Places Where COVID Is Concentrated – PM

April 22, 2020 0 By Horace Mills

Prime Minister Andrew Holness last evening specified Linstead among the places in St. Catherine where the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is concentrated.

That is the clearest indication yet regarding the presence of the highly contagious and potentially deadly virus in the Linstead area.

The government, citing stigmatization, no longer discloses the general communities where confirmed COVID-19 cases are located. In recent weeks, it also stopped naming parishes.

The failure to disclose the names of even general communities partly resulted in some local residents still thinking the virus is far-fetched.

Prime Minister Holness, in the House of Representatives last night, said: “The epidemic is going through what has been established as its normal course, but, for Portmore where the cases are concentrated – and Linstead, and other areas – the St. Catherine area generally, you can see that it has affected the island-wide statistics and it has now pushed us up in numbers [of confirmed cases].”

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Jamaica up to yesterday stood at 233, including six deaths. Of the cases confirmed, 125 are linked to Alorica call centre in Portmore, St. Catherine.

Several people from the Linstead area work at the said Alorica branch, where there is an outbreak of COVID-19.

In fact, several Alorica employees from the Linstead area travel on a staff bus daily to and from work. The Beacon, so far, confirmed that at least two employees who use the bus have tested positive for the virus.

The Beacon also managed to confirm that there are at least two cases of COVID-19 in Ewarton district – near Linstead. There is at least one in Bog Walk.

A number of people, including Alorica workers living as far away as Lluidas Vale district, have tested and are awaiting the results to determine if they have COVID-19.


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