Prisoner arrived from a special deported flight from UK tests positive in Jamaica

Kingston, Jamaica: The Jamaican government has confirmed that one of the 13 inmates deported from the UK to Jamaica on Wednesday has tested coronavirus positive.

Jamaican authorities stated that deportee is currently isolated in a hospital in Kingston. He had been in prison in the UK for more than a month before his deportation.

The positive patient told media that he is unaware of how he got coronavirus, but he added that the deportation flight from the UK to Jamaica was crowded and some people took their masks off on board.

“I’m very angry that the Home Office has failed to protect me.” He stated he was well cared for in the Jamaican facility.

The flight has led to allegations by members of the Windrush generation of strongly insulting behaviour from the home secretary, Priti Patel. Many concerns were proposed about the COVID-19 threat of allowing a flight to Jamaica during the pandemic.

Bishop Desmond Jaddoo, the chair of the Windrush National Organisation, wrote to the home secretary on 30 November growing concerns about the flight because of the virus risk. He questioned why such a flight was being chartered while commercial flights were not travelling ahead.

The plane, taking 13 sentenced criminals, took off on Wednesday. Twenty-three other inmates were left off it following lawful requests.

The man, who has condemnations for narcotics crimes, has been taken under police protection to the St Joseph’s medical facility in Kingston, where he will be kept under isolation for 14 days. At the moment, he does not have any indications.

The chartered flight was strongly condemned by hundreds of people including public figures like Naomi Campbell and Thandie Newton as they signed an open letter calling on airlines to dismiss the Wednesday's flight.