Jamaica is now able to test for the coronavirus. Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, made the disclosure during a tour of the National Influenza Centre (NIC), based at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI), on Monday (February 17). The development follows training of local laboratory staff by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)...

The Ministry of Health and Wellness would like to advise the public that the results for the first patient, who was placed in isolation, have come back negative for the novel Coronavirus (COVID19). The results were received on Wednesday, February 12 from the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. This patient had arrived in Jamaica on January 30 and presented...

Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, is assuring residents of Vineyard Town that they are at no health risk if the St. Joseph’s Hospital is used as a quarantine centre. Speaking at a town hall meeting on February 11, in the community, the Minister said the hospital will only house persons who display “elevated temperature” for...

Chairman of the St. James Municipal Corporation, Councillor Homer Davis, has announced a $4.5-million initiative to control the spread of dengue in the parish. Mr. Davis, who is also the Mayor of Montego Bay, said the project will be executed with support from the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development, with each of the 17 divisions across the parish...

A team from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) will arrive in the island on Wednesday (February 12), to train local staff on how to test for the coronavirus. Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Jacquiline A. Bisasor-McKenzie, made the announcement at a press conference at the Ministry of Health and Wellness, in New Kingston, on February 10, where an update on...

One person who recently returned to Jamaica from China and was placed in quarantine, has been isolated after showing signs of an elevated temperature. The Government, through the Ministry of Health and Wellness, provided an update on the coronavirus, at a press conference on Monday (February 10), held at the Ministry in New Kingston. This brings the total number of...

Health and Wellness Minister, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, says Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) and the Western Children’s and Adolescent’s Hospital in Montego Bay, St. James, are poised to be the most modern public health facilities in the Caribbean. “When [renovations at] Cornwall Regional Hospital [are] finished and [the facility is] restored with 450 beds, and [when] the Western Children...