The subcommittee of Cabinet that deals with coronavirus (COVID-19) issues will meet today (August 21), to discuss the recent surge in cases confirmed in Jamaica and agree on measures to respond to the current situation. Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, made this announcement during his Ministry’s weekly COVID Conversations Digital Press Conference on August 20...

The Ministry of Health and Wellness has cleared the remaining 2,000 coronavirus (COVID-19) samples for testing. This was stated by Head of the National Public Health Laboratory, Dr. Michelle Hamilton, during a digital COVID Conversations press conference on Thursday (August 20). “The reagent for the cobas 6800 that we spoke about at the last press briefing did arrive in Jamaica...

The total number of confirmed coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in Jamaica now stands at 1,290, with 98 persons testing positive as at Thursday (August 20). At the same time, 16 more patients have recovered from the virus, increasing the number of recoveries to 788, and one person has died from the virus within the last 24 hours, bringing the total to...

The Justice Ministry’s Victim Services Division (VSD) has expanded its operations by adding e-counselling to its service offerings, as the need to maintain social distancing increases due to the outbreak of COVID-19. In this regard, the Division has ramped up its current telephone counselling service and introduced the use of audio-visual communication such as video-conferencing and virtual meeting rooms to...

A total of 11 deposit taking institutions (DTIs), with assets valued $1,809.5 billion, were under the Bank of Jamaica’s (BOJ) supervision at the end of the 2019 calendar year. This is according to the Planning Institute of Jamaica’s (PIOJ) Economic and Social Survey for the period. The document indicates that the value of the assets at the institutions, comprising commercial...

Hundreds of residents of Brown’s Hall and surrounding communities in rural St. Catherine now have access to health services close to their doorsteps. Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, officially opened the Brown’s Hall Health Centre on Wednesday (August 19), which was built at a cost of $24 million through public-private partnership. He said that the...

Minister of Labour and Social Security, Hon. Michael Henry, is encouraging more organisations to adopt and use flexible work arrangements, in light of the coronavirus (COVID 19) pandemic. In his speech,delivered by Chief Technical Director in the Ministry, Dionne Jennings, at a virtual productivity forum on August 20, Mr. Henry said this will lead to a safe, healthy and productive...