Jamaica tops record daily COVID-19 rate for third time in five days; 403 new infections confirmed
Gavin Riley / Our Today
administrator
With 403 new cases of the novel coronavirus confirmed on Monday (February 8), Jamaica has broken its daily record three times in the last five days.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Health and Wellness, the island’s positivity rate has hit 20 per cent for the first time as the pandemic worsens.
The new cases send Jamaica’s national total to 17,701, 4,793 of which are active infections.
Minister Christopher Tufton, in a radio interview on Tuesday, called the repeated daily records alarming.
“This is the highest rate we have seen in any single period of testing…which would create another sort of record for a 24-hour cycle,” Tufton disclosed.
“Twenty per cent positivity rate is significant,” the minister added, noting that widescale spread has been observed in as many as eight parishes.
New cases were confirmed in all 14 parishes in the last 24r hours, with Manchester (81), St James (69), Kingston and St Andrew (66), St Catherine (54) and St Elizabeth (26) having the highest numbers.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness is expected to address the worrying spike in the House of Representatives later today.
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