PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti – One person has died and 23 others have contracted the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Haiti over the past 24 hours as the country continues to outpace the region with positive cases and fatalities from the virus that was first detected in China last December.
The Ministry of Public Health said as a result of the new cases, the total has reached 7,634 cases since the first case was detected on March 19.
It said that the new death occurred in the department of Artibonite, bringing the national total to 183.
The Ministry of Public Health said that there are 2,469 active cases, while suspicious cases under investigation has reached 19,994 since March.
Jamaica also recorded one additional death over the past 24 hours, to bring the total deaths on the island to 14. The deceased is a 37-year-old male. 20 new cases were also reported, bring the total cases on the island to 1,023.
In Suriname, the authorities said that of the 307 tests administered in the past 24 hours, 85 were positive.
As a result, the Dutch-speaking now has a total of 2,391 Covid-19 infections, of which 727 are counted as active cases. There are 82 people in the hospital and 13 patients in the intensive care unit.
“Citizens in quarantine (not positive) and in isolation (positive) are 587 to 632 respectively. The death toll is still 29,” the authorities added.
Meanwhile, in Trinidad and Tobago, where the number of positive cases is 280, the Trinidad and Tobago Prison Service said that a prisoner at the prison in the capital, had tested positive for the virus.
It said that the prisoner, who has underlying medical conditions “complained of experiencing symptoms consistent with the virus” and was taken to the Port of Spain General Hospital where a test confirmed that he is positive.
“The area where the prisoner was housed was immediately evacuated and sanitized. The prisoners who shared the same cell have since been placed under quarantine and are being observed for symptoms,” the Service said.
Acting Commissioner of Prisons, Denis Pulchan, said despite all the preventative measures to ensure a COVID-19 free environment, “it is inevitable with the mergence if community cases”.
The Ministry of Health in its daily advisory confirming “one additional case” said that it is still “pending epidemiology investigation”.
Trinidad and Tobago has recorded eight deaths from the virus.
CMC
