In just one week, Jamaica’s number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 has more than doubled, with the island recording 173 cases.

84 of those cases are workers at Alorica, a call centre company located in the St. Catherine parish, while four of the other cases are close contacts of the workers.

The company has been accused of ignoring social distancing guidelines at its office, an allegation it has strongly denied.

According to its most recent update, Jamaica has tested 1,605 samples for the virus, with results for 25 cases pending.

Last week, as he announced a one week lockdown in St. Catherine, Prime Minister Andrew Holness said a spike in cases was always expected and urged Jamaicans to adhere to the restrictions measures in place to avoid further spread of the virus. The parish will remain under lockdown until 5am on Wednesday April 22nd.