The Government has commenced verification activities to enable citizens who have applied for assistance under two components of the $10-billion COVID Allocation of Resources for Employees (CARE) Programme to start receiving grants by April 30. These are the Compassionate Grant and the Supporting Employees with Transfer of Cash (SET Cash) Grant, which together account for more than 90 per cent...

Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Director, Dr. Carissa Etienne, says the coronavirus (COVID-19) experience presents the opportunity for member states to prepare for future epidemics and pandemics. She noted that the lessons learnt will better enable countries to build resilience and scale up health systems to “deliver on all of the services that our people need, without causing them impoverishment”....

The National Surveillance Unit in the Ministry of Health & Wellness has reported that in the last 48 hours, 14 additional samples have tested positive for COVID-19 (9 on April 22 and 5 on April 23). This brings the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Jamaica to 257. This brings to 6 males and 8 females, with ages ranging...

Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, says the controlled re-entry of Jamaicans will be managed in a way to minimise risk to the general population. The country closed its borders to incoming travellers on March 24 as part of measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), and they will remain closed until May 31,...

Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, says contact tracing is crucial to the Government’s work to contain continued spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), based in the United States of America, contact tracing is part of the process of supporting patients with suspected or confirmed infection and...

The Scientific Research Council (SRC) is calling on citizens to be mindful of the hand sanitisers they create, to protect themselves against the coronavirus (COVID-19). “You want to ensure that the solution you are creating is strong enough to kill microbes, such as the virus which causes COVID-19. The two main agents that we recommend using in the household are...

As the country prepares to move into a new phase of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic – community transmission – Jamaicans are again being urged to do their part by following the established safety protocols and cooperate with health officials conducting contact tracing. This plea comes from Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, who stressed that tackling...