The family of a 41-year-old COVID-19 victim from Westmoreland is now being ostracized amid fears that they may have the virus.
The man who passed away on Wednesday, was the third COVID-19 patient to have died in Jamaica.
The now-deceased, arrived in Jamaica on March 12 and was taken to the doctor two days later after falling ill. Some family members believe he might have arrived in Jamaica sick.
“Dem (the deceased man and his wife) left in December and mek plan fi come back six months’ time, but them showed up two and a half months later, and we hear seh [he was] sick,” a relative reportedly told The Gleaner yesterday. “Dem come pon the 12th of March, and him go doctor on the 14th. Then mi husband call him and ask him how him do, and him seh that him was coming on fine.”
The woman recounted their surprise when her brother-in-law made a second visit to the doctor on March 24 and was diagnosed as having the coronavirus, before being taken to a medical facility in Kingston.
Residents told The Gleaner that they suspected that the deceased had been misdiagnosed and was being treated at home with ‘bush’ medicine before his illness worsened. A brother of the deceased also told The Gleaner that he is not convinced that his brother died from COVID-19. Health officials say the death is still under investigation.
The news of his death has marred the family image, as the family has reported that they are now being shunned by other residents of the community who are linking them to the deadly virus.
“Since him dead is like all a wi round here so branded. Nobody nah come beside we, nobody nah talk to we, and is like everybody a Westmoreland ’fraid a di family yah now,” a relative told The Gleaner.
The global death toll from the pandemic rose to more than 51,000 late yesterday evening.
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