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20 UK passengers test positive for COVID-19

Published:Wednesday | December 23, 2020 | 5:33 PM
A security guard leaves a Jamaica Urban Transit Company bus at the Norman Manley International Airport that had arrived to transport the UK passengers to a state facility for quarantine.

The Health Ministry is reporting that 20 of the passengers who arrived from the UK on Monday have tested positive for COVID-19.

The ministry says the patients as well as four of their close contacts will now be placed in state isolation to be monitored until they recover. 

The results for two passengers are still pending.

The 20 positive samples will also be sent to the Caribbean Public Health Agency for genetic assessment to determine if they are of the variant strain of COVID-19.  

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry said some 267 travellers who have tested negative for COVID-19 will be released into home quarantine today.

They will be fitted with armbands and will be closely monitored by the parish health team and the police as they complete their mandatory 14-day quarantine at home.

The ministry is urging family members that they must strictly adhere to infection prevention and control measures when picking up their relatives.

It also warned that during the mandatory 14-day quarantine period the travellers may still develop symptoms and transmit the virus to others.  

Of the 301 passengers who arrived on Monday, five were in-transit and three were children under 12 years of age, who were not sampled, the Health Ministry said.

In home quarantine?

While in home quarantine, if persons develop any symptoms, they must make immediate contact with the Ministry of Health and Wellness at 888-ONE-LOVE (888-663-5683) or their parish health department.

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