COVID-19 infections jump as five more deaths recorded

The Ministry of Health & Wellness has reported a jump in new COVID-19 cases.

Seventy-three new cases were recorded from 3,156 samples on Saturday.

This compares to 29 new cases on Friday.

The infection rate has jumped to 6.6 per cent, up from 4.3 per cent recorded on Friday.

There were 30 imported cases among those recorded on Saturday.

The health ministry is also reporting that five more persons died of the virus, pushing the death toll to 2,948.

There are currently 21 patients in hospital with the virus, up from 16 on Friday.

Health experts have warned that the country could see a spike in new cases in the coming weeks after the Ministry of Health & Wellness  confirmed that the highly transmissible Omicron BA.2 variant has been detected here in Jamaica.