With 14 coronavirus-related (COVID-19) deaths recorded by the Ministry of Health and Wellness on Monday (June 14), Jamaica has officially lost over 1,000 lives in the pandemic.

It is a sombre milestone, made even worse as it took a year for the island to hit 500 deaths, marked on March 16, 2021. There are now 1,011 registered deaths in Jamaica.

Just shy of three months later, 500 more fatalities have been registered, leaving Jamaica with the highest COVID-related death toll in the English-speaking Caribbean.

Only the Dominican Republic (3,708), Puerto Rico (2,530) and Cuba (1,098) have been hit harder.

According to the ministry’s clinical management summary, 14 deaths were confirmed, ranging between January 27 and June 12.

Manchester accounted for 11 or roughly 79 per cent of deaths, while two were residents of St Ann and one death recorded in Kingston and St Andrew.

Eight of the deceased victims were men and six were women.

Jamaica confirmed 79 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, which brings the country’s cumulative total to 49,346.

The Caribbean island is managing 20,237 active cases, with some 27,732 patients making a full recovery from the infectious disease.