The number of COVID-19i nfections recorded on the island continues to rise with the Ministry of Health and Wellness reporting an additional 264 cases for the period January 17-23.

Since the start of the new year, Jamaica has seen a spike in cases, with each weekly report indicating an increase in the rate of new confirmations. The previous weekly report, for January 10-16, indicated that there were 175 new cases and the weekly report prior to that (January 3-9) indicated that there were 141 new cases.

Kingston and St Andrew continue to be the parishes with the most reported cases, recording 51 new COVID-19 confirmations in the latest report. St Catherine comes after with 27 new cases and St James has recorded 14.

Westmoreland recorded 11 cases and Manchester recorded seven new cases. Additionally, St Thomas, Trelawny, St Ann and St Elizabeth recorded two cases each, while Portland, St Mary, Hanover and Clarendon each recorded one new case.

There was also confirmation of four deaths that occurred between March 2021 and January 2023.

Jamaica’s seven-day positivity rate now stands at 19 per cent, an increase from the 12 per cent reported in the previous report. But 96 people have recovered from the virus.

Dr Christopher Tufton, minister of health and wellness, had previously told Our Today that majority of the new cases are mild, meaning patients are not experiencing severe symptoms. Mild symptoms include coughing, headache or a fever while severe symptoms would include shortness of breath or difficulty breathing.

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