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On his 10th day of being quarantined, one Alorica call centre worker told THE STAR that isolation has been taking a mental toll on him.

"I feel so depressed at times. I'm just thinking what is the meaning of life and everything. A few days ago I had a normal life. Now I'm away, it is not a good feeling being locked away in a place and can't move," he said.

To date, 123 of 233 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Jamaica are linked to Alorica, the Portmore, St Catherine-based call centre, the largest cluster in the country. The centre was closed and employees were told to self-quarantine at home for 14 days.

All BPO centres have since been closed with thousands of employees working from home.

The 20-year-old worker told THE STAR that his life has changed drastically, especially how he relates to his immediate family members.

"It is affecting me a lot due to the fact that I have to avoid other family members. When I used to go to work and come home, I would sit a little while and socialise with my grandparents and give them little jokes," he told THE STAR. "Now I can't even sit with them. My grandparents have to bring the food to my room. I take it through the door so a lot of handwashing would have to take place and everybody masked up."

"Sometimes they put it on the table because they don't want to make me feel like they are scorning me. But I know, and they don't really have an understanding of the virus, so I have to stay in my room to protect them," he added.

Probably gonna leave

Right now he is contemplating his future. Life after COVID might see him moving on from Alorica.

"I'm probably gonna leave it and join the army. That's what I really wanted to do, and since quarantine time, everybody has been saying join the army, even my family members and friends," he said. "People are scorning us, too, and it's horrible."

Even though he would prefer not to be quarantined, he believes it the best course of action to contain the spread of COVID-19, and is urging his co-workers who are yet to be located to contact the health ministry to get tested.

"I doesn't make sense to run off. It is putting Jamaica in more stress, because more persons are gonna be affected by it. People in other parishes are gonna get infected and that is not good," he told THE STAR. "So I would just tell them to give in themselves. If they have symptoms, call the Ministry of Health to get tested, and persons who they are around all the time should get tested, too.

"We just have to hold the faith. God does things for a reason, and we shall overcome this thing," he added.