The Ministry of Health and Wellness has confirmed the presence of the highly contagious Delta variant of Covid-19 in Jamaica.

In a statement today (August 18), the ministry said it has received 40 results from the 60 samples sent to the Caribbean Public Health Agency and 22 are positive for the Delta variant.

Portfolio Minister, Dr. Christopher Tufton says the epidemiology and laboratory teams are now doing further analysis to see if there is any particular significant factor related to the 22 identified.

He says the public will be kept updated.

The confirmation of the presence of the variant comes as Jamaica recorded 289 new Covid-19 infections and confirmed 19 deaths in the last 24 hours.