Jamaica now has 288 confirmed cases of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), with the addition of 31 new cases over the last 24 hours. The 31 additions come in the wake of the island having boosted its testing capacity, with the commissioning of the new COBAS machine at the National Public Health Laboratory in Kingston. It complements the testing being...

Minister of Justice, Hon. Delroy Chuck, is reminding Jamaicans that they are still able to access justice services, particularly through the use and integration of technology, in light of the coronavirus (COVID-19). “Trials have been put off until later in the year, because consistent with no large gathering and social distancing, it is not possible to have trials, but the...

Mayor of Montego Bay, Councilor Homer Davis, says the St. James Municipal Corporation is exploring ways to stem the proliferation of handcarts at the Charles Gordon Market in the parish. He noted that the use of handcarts is part of the reason vendors sell outside of the designated areas, which contributes to congestion and flouting of the social distancing rules....

Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, is imploring Jamaicans not to discriminate against persons who may be infected with the coronavirus (COVID-19), as they could be the next victim of the contagious disease. “None of us are immune to the virus. None of us must claim or think that we will exclusively escape and it is...

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...