As part of the Government’s stimulus package to minimise the effects of COVID-19 on the economy, the National Housing Trust (NHT) has reduced interest rates on all new loans by one per cent, and on all existing loans by 0.5 per cent, effective April 1, 2020. This will benefit some 8,000 new mortgagors annually, and some 100,000 existing mortgagors. Prime...

Jamaica now has sixteen (16) confirmed cases of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The latest case is a 57-year-old male with a travel history to New York. He arrived in the island on March 10 and visited his private physician on March 16. He reported having had symptoms for six days. The necessary contact tracing is now being done. Meanwhile,...

Prime Minister Holness has announced that the Corn Piece community in the parish of Clarendon is now under quarantine for 14 days. The community was quarantined following the first reported death as a result of COVID-19 – a man who is believed to have travelled to Jamaica from New York on a JetBlue flight 2959 on March 12. The announcement...

The Trelawny Health Department is undertaking a comprehensive public education programme aimed at increasing knowledge about the coronavirus (COVID-19) and reducing its spread. Parish Health Promotion and Education Officer, Althea Gayle Palmer, told JIS News that public health personnel have been engaged in sensitisation sessions across the parish, reinforcing the need for people to be vigilant about hygiene practices and...

Nurses within the Southeast Regional Health Authority (SERHA) will no longer have to suffer the indignity of being refused access to public transportation due to fears associated with the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). This, as the Ministry of Health and Wellness has provided five new buses at a cost of more than $57 million to transport them to...

The Government will be ramping up the mounting of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras at locations across the island under Jamaica Eye. Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, said that $1.2 billion has been set aside in the 2020/21 Budget for the supply and installation of cameras, servers and software for ongoing project activities. The money will also be used...

The Victim Services Division (VSD) is advising the public that its offices remain open for business, with measures implemented to protect staff and clients against contracting the coronavirus (COVID-19). Director of the VSD, Osbourne Bailey, told JIS News that telephone counselling has been ramped up to facilitate clients who might not be able to go into the offices. “Let me...