Old Harbour among Jamaica’s most infected COVID-19 communities

This was revealed in data presented during a virtual meeting of the special select parliamentary committee for public health on Tuesday. St Catherine leads all other parishes with 293 confirmed cases, more than 50 percent of the 502 nationally at the time.

Analyzing the data, Old Harbour is ranked in the top three of most infected communities in St Catherine with 34 confirmed cases with the general area of Portmore topping the chart with 79 COVID-19 positive individuals.

However, the south west St Catherine ‘capital’ is ranked in the top-two behind the northern community of Linstead if the Portmore communities are separately taken into account. A breakout of the virus at the Alorica call centre in Portmore forced the government to institute a 17-day lockdown of the entire parish to control the spread of the feared disease.

The combined parishes of Kingston and St Andrew are next with 107 cases with the communities of Tivoli Gardens, Olympic Gardens, Constant Spring, Liguanea, Bull Bay, Harbour View, Delacree Pen and Whitfield Town among the areas tagged with COVID-19 carriers.

Thirty-five cases have been attached to the neighbouring parish of Clarendon with the numbers split between the communities of Longsville Park and Hayes. Corn Piece Settlement, which falls within the Hayes Division of south east Clarendon, recorded the first COVID-19-related death in the country and was subsequently placed under state quarantined for four weeks from March 19 to April 17.

Chief medical officer (CMO) in the Ministry of Health and Wellness Dr Jacquiline Bisasor-McKenzie told the committee that 419 persons have been isolated with 49 hospitalized and three classified as moderately ill.

Jamaica has recorded nine COVID-19 related deaths so far with all having “one or more underlining conditions”.

Click video below to watch full length presenation.