Havana, March 12 (RHC) The Jamaican government has asked Cuba for about 100 nurses to help the local intensive care units treat the most serious cases of COVID-19, reported the local newspaper Jamaica Observer, in Kingston, the capital of the Caribbean island.

Health and Welfare Minister Christopher Tufton said he was exploring with Cuban representatives the possibility of having a contingent to contribute to the national effort in the presence of the disease.

Without announcing when the Cuban nurses would arrive on Jamaican soil, the health minister described the 100 nurses from Cuba as a "substantial number" to fill the gap in intensive care centers, says the Cuban National News agency.

Jamaica confirmed on Tuesday the first patient infected with the strain of the new coronavirus, which arrived on the island on March 4 from the United Kingdom.

The government confirmed the availability of $7 billion in contingency funds to combat the threat of the virus.

According to the Health Minister, so far four quarantine facilities have been identified with plans to add more, and public hospitals are in the final stages of upgrading their isolation centers.

At present, more than 300 Cuban health professionals, under the bilateral technical cooperation agreement, provide their services in hospital institutions located throughout Jamaica.

At the end of February, a group of 38 Cuban aid workers made up of doctors, nurses and biomedical engineers joined the Medical Brigade to contribute to the well-being and health of the Jamaican people.