The first Joint Select Committee Meeting on the Tobacco Control Act, 2020 was convened on Wednesday, February 24 by Health and Wellness Minister Dr the Hon. Christopher Tufton. The 12-member committee, with representation from houses of the parliament, is to review the Bill that was tabled on Tuesday, December 1, 2020 in the House of Representatives. The committee will also...

Cabinet has given approval for the award of a contract for the procurement of 16,000 packs of SD Bioline Syphilis Test Kits and 1,000 packs of Oraquick HIV test kits in the amount of US$748,280, excluding General Consumption Tax (GCT), to Recharge Distributors Limited. This was disclosed by Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Fayval Williams, during a virtual...

Cabinet has given approval for the transfer of the management of St. Joseph’s Hospital in St. Andrew from the Ministry of Health and Wellness to the South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA). Currently, the hospital does not operate under the management of a Regional Health Authority, but operates as a public health facility, which only offers private services. This was...

The Cabinet has decided on the following measures: The islandwide nightly 8 pm to 5 am curfew is being extended for the period February 24 – March 1, 2021. Accordingly, the curfew will commence at 8 pm on Wednesday, February 24, 2021 until 5 am the following morning, ending at 5 am Monday, March 1, 2021. The public gathering limit...

NEW CASES 24 HRS OVERALL   Confirmed Cases 193 22,019   SEX CLASSIFICATION       Males 93 9,770   Females 97 12,243   Under Investigation 3 6   AGE RANGE 19 days to 89 years 1 day to 104 years           PARISH CLASSIFICATION OF NEW CASES       Clarendon 1 1,265   Hanover 10...

The Ministry of Health and Wellness is hiring more public health workers as part of the response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The move to bolster the healthcare team, comes as additional bed spaces are being provided by the Government, as the country sees as increase in the hospitalisation of COVID-19 patients. Speaking at Wednesday’s (February 23) COVID Conversations virtual...

The Government is quickly moving to provide additional bed space for the increasing number of patients with coronavirus (COVID-19) who require hospitalisation. This was disclosed by Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, who said this has become necessary, especially given that, in the last week, the country added 2,818 new COVID-19 cases and saw hospitalisations move...