Jamaica confirms new virus strain

Jamaica has reported four cases of the highly contagious strain of COVID-19 that recently surfaced in the United Kingdom but the authorities there are cautioning against panic. Like BVI and Grenada, Jamaica has banned all travellers from the UK as a result.

Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton stressed that the government is taking all the necessary precautions to keep it under control. The four positive samples were among the 20 confirmed coronavirus cases out of the 301 passengers who arrived from the UK on Dec. 21, the date Jamaica banned passenger arrivals from the UK because of the newly discovered strain of the virus in that country. Jamaica has now restricted flights from the UK until Jan. 31.

The samples were analysed by the Trinidad-based Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA).

“As of now, there’s no evidence to confirm that this makes you more ill or it affects the initiatives that are now in progress towards having a vaccine,” Tufton said. “We are monitoring. We are learning as we go along. To date, the evidence is not so damning that one should feel more threatened, except, of course, it spreads more rapidly.” He added that it was only in the UK that there have been reports of quickened spread.