Twenty-nine-year-old communications officer, Sasheena Douglas, was shocked when she tested positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19) in August 2020. The fitness fanatic, who maintains a healthy diet, thought that her youth and healthy lifestyle made her at very low risk for contracting the virus. Even more surprising was how ill she became, telling JIS News that she battled the effects of...

Roshaine Rowe Bryan’s demanding job as an auditor was virtually taking over her life, making it almost impossible to unwind and relax even when outside of the workplace. The incomplete tasks, ongoing projects and fast-approaching deadlines constantly occupied her thoughts, interrupting sacred moments with loved ones, and causing her sleepless nights. “I was working in a fast-paced and demanding environment...

“It is a terrible journey. It is like an armed man with axe, machete and other tools destroying the body,” states St. Thomas resident, Lincoln Morgan, of his experience with the coronavirus (COVID-19) disease. Mr. Morgan, who is a builder, shares with JIS News that when he was about to retire to bed recently, he felt his feet very cold....

Trade union leaders have joined the growing number of persons and organisations across the society urging more Jamaicans to get vaccinated against the coronavirus (COVID-19). Executives of the umbrella Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions (JCTU) and their affiliates made the appeal at a recent COVID-19 Vaccination Implementation Programme press conference, hosted by Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon....

A bed is one of the most important pieces of furniture in any healthcare facility and forms a large part of patient care and recovery. The Culture, Health, Arts, Sports and Education (CHASE) Fund, through a generous donation of $4.4 million, has gifted the island’s only public children’s hospital, the Bustamante Hospital for Children (BHC), with 15 specialty beds. The...

Knowing the status of fertility, contraceptive use and the knowledge, attitude and practice of the population towards family planning and reproductive health is very important. For this reason, the 2021 Reproductive Health Survey (RHS) is being conducted by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) on behalf of the National Family Planning Board (NFPB). Principal Director, NFPB, Lovette Byfield, tells JIS...

At first, Hortense Davis* was hesitant about taking the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine. The Red Stripe employee told JIS News that she is not an antivaxxer, but she had heard so many stories disparaging the vaccines that she was scared to get the jab. “Everyone was saying, if you take it, yuh a go dead,” she said. However, when her employer...

Registered Nurse at the St. Ann’s Bay Regional Hospital, Kevin Morrison, is regularly mistaken for a doctor. He tells JIS News that he often has to advise patients as well as visitors that he is, in fact, a nurse. As one of just eight male nurses at the Type B hospital, Nurse Morrison is among a small group of men...

Travellers to Jamaica are being implored to adhere to quarantine measures to reduce the spread of new variants of the coronavirus (COVID-19). The urging comes as the Ministry of Health and Wellness has confirmed cases of the Mu variant of COVID-19 on the island. Addressing a virtual press conference on Thursday (Sept. 9), Portfolio Minister, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton...