Portmore call centre closes after worker contracts COVID-19

Business Process Outsourcing firm Alorica has discontinued operations at its Portmore, St Catherine offices later one employee proclaimed testing positive for COVID-19.

The company cautioned staff members of the reported infection and quick suspension of the Portmore operations on Friday. It said the place would go through a deep cleansing and sanitisation operation over the weekend, and that the Ministry of Health will examine the premises on Tuesday.

"Out of plenty of caution, we are closing down the site temporarily starting this afternoon to complete the full de-contamination," said the company.

According to the company, the worker who tested positive had not been at the Portmore site since Monday, April 6. "Any employee who was in close contact with the person is notified," the company said.

The Ministry of Health on Friday reported that a 21-year-old female was among two new cases of COVID-19 in Jamaica, taking the total number of infections in the island to 65. Her mode of transmission is under examination, the ministry said. The other case includes a 50-year-old female from St James with a travel record from New York.

Alorica, which has five other local locations, temporarily suspended operations at its Dominican Republic operations last month. The DR has over 2,000 confirmed cases of the virus.

In addition to its Portmore location in Jamaica, Alorica also operates from a 162,000 square-foot facility at 58 Half-Way-Tree Tech Park. Current employment numbers are unknown, but in 2018 the company said it was aiming to increase its Jamaican workforce to 5,000.