Just a day after confirming its highest coronavirus (COVID-19) daily rate, Jamaica’s crisis continues to worsen as the island broke that record on Sunday (March 7), with 723 new positive cases in the last 24 hours.

Jamaica now has 26,026 cumulative cases of COVID-19, of which the struggling medical system is managing 11,039 active infections, according to statistics provided by the Ministry of Health and Wellness.

The island’s positivity rate, which currently stands at 35.9 per cent, is the second-highest ever recorded in Jamaica—behind the 40 per cent observed in mid-February.

The country confirmed 527 new cases on Saturday, which had shattered the previous daily record of 468 positive cases confirmed on February 17.

With seven new listed coronavirus-related fatalities, the death toll now sits at 453.

A total of 14,310 patients have made a full recovery from the infectious disease, the ministry has noted.

The clinical management summary for Saturday showed that new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in all 14 parishes across the island, with Kingston and St Andrew (265), St Catherine (141), Portland (58), St James (54) and Trelawny (45) recording the most infections.

The ministry has 57 deaths under investigation, while 271 Jamaicans are being treated at hospital. Of the ballooning hospitalisation fiugures, 31 patients have been categorised as moderately ill, while 31 are classified as critically ill.