Hurricane Melissa has claimed 19 lives after making landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday.
Information Minister Dr. Dana Morris Dixon gave the update on Thursday.
Eight of the deaths were confirmed in St. Elizabeth; two in St. James, including a child; and nine in Westmoreland.
"The search and rescue teams are still out there, and as I have any other numbers, I will let you know. I know this is not numbers we want to hear, but we are doing our best to get to everyone in the affected communities," Dr. Morris Dixon said at a press briefing on Thursday.
At a follow-up press conference on Friday, the Information Minister said the death toll was officially unchanged, but likely to rise as there were "credible" reports of bodies in Westmoreland and St. James still to be retrieved.
Hurricane Melissa made landfall on Jamaica's southwestern coast as a powerful Category 5 storm, packing maximum sustained winds of 185 mph.
St. Elizabeth, Westmoreland, St. James and other western parishes experienced the brunt of the devastation.
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