The Government has reported that all 2,320 persons who have returned to Jamaica under the controlled re-entry programme since April 29, 2020, have been tested for the coronavirus (COVID-19). To date, 58 of these persons have tested positive for COVID-19. Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, gave this update during a digital press conference at the...

As the Government makes plans to resume operations within the tourism industry come June 15, the Ministry of Tourism has established a “novel coronavirus (COVID-19)-resilient corridor”, restricting the movement of visitors to the Northern end of the island. Addressing a virtual media briefing today (June 4) to outline protocols for the reopening of the tourism sector, Portfolio Minister, Hon. Edmund...

The Senate, on Thursday (June 4), approved the Fiscal Administration and Audit (Suspension of Fiscal Target Requirements) Order, 2020, to suspend Jamaica’s fiscal rules until March 31, 2021. Members of the House of Representatives approved the measure during its sitting on Tuesday (June 2). Suspension of the fiscal rules has become necessary due to the economic impact of the coronavirus...

Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, says the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC) is being leveraged to bolster communication between travel providers and visitor destination stakeholders on developments pertaining to safeguards in the post-Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) era. These, he said, relate to the shaping of travel protocols and addressing travellers’ concerns regarding health and safety, when air...

Thirty social workers from the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) are benefiting from training aimed at equipping them to provide psychosocial support to more than 6,500 at-risk children who are wards of the State. The training in clinical social work is a collaborative effort involving the CPFSA, Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), and The Mico University College and...

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, has called on members of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) to work together to address the development challenges posed by the current global pandemic. Mr. Holness, who was addressing the first virtual Extraordinary Inter-Sessional Summit of Heads of State and Government of the OACPS on Wednesday (June 2), said...

National Health Fund (NHF) Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Everton Anderson, says approximately 70 per cent of the medical equipment and supplies being sourced to further bolster the Government’s national coronavirus (COVID-19) response for Jamaica, has been received. “We have received additional ventilators, monitors, intensive care unit (ICU) beds, and several other pieces of equipment that [were] ordered over a number...