Jamaica, Haiti, Guyana and Suriname have now recorded a total of 7 deaths from the coronavirus.

Health authorities in those Caribbean community countries have renewed calls for their populations to take the necessary measures to prevent the spread of the virus.

In Jamaica the Ministry of Health says the 2 persons who died from the virus are a 64-year-old man from Clarendon, and a 73-year-old woman from St. Thomas, south east of the capital.

According to the Ministry the number of deaths is now 12 and 11 new positive cases were recorded yesterday bringing the total so far to 894.

The new cases include 7 females and 4 males, ranging from ages 13 to 73 years.

Two of them are classified as imported, with the affected persons having arrived recently on flights from the United States and the Dominican Republic.

Last week the Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jacqueline Bissessar Mckenzie said there has been no new local cases since late May.

But today the health authorities are saying 2 of the new cases are contacts of positive persons and 7 are still being investigated.

Jamaica now has 90 active cases under observation, with 2 moderately ill patients.

Haiti, which has one of the highest number of cases within CARICOM, registered 44 new cases within the past 24 hours as well as 4 deaths.

In Guyana, the Ministry of Public Health is reporting that the number of COVID-19 cases has increased by 44 bringing to 474, the number of persons who have tested positive for the virus.

The ministry has also reports that another person has succumbed to the virus taking the total number of deaths to 21.

Suriname reported a 27^th death yesterday.