The United Kingdom variant of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has been confirmed in seven random samples across Jamaica, according to Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Chistopher Tufton.

Minister Tufton, speaking at a virtual coronavirus press briefing on Wednesday said the samples were sent to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) in Trinidad on January 26 and the results returned on Saturday, March 6.

The seven samples positive for the Kent variant, which was taken from people with no travel history, came from St Catherine, St James, Clarendon, Kingston and St Andrew and Trelawny.

“What this confirms for us in public health is that the UK variant strain is present in our population as manifested in the sequencing or the testing that has been done at CARPHA in Trinidad,” said Tufton.

In the meantime, the Ministry of Health and Wellness is managing 46 active workplace clusters across the island. A breakdown of the affected areas was not disclosed.

Jamaica confirmed 878 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours—the third time in as many days the country has broken its daily record.

Recording over 2,100 cases in the same three-day timeframe, Jamaica has 26,904 cumulative infections, with a 39 per cent positivity rate.

The island’s struggling healthcare system is managing 11,770 active cases, 250 of which require hospitalisation.

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