Since 2007, the International Health Regulations have been adopted by World Health Organization (WHO) member States, including Jamaica, to prevent, protect against, control and provide a public health response to the spread of diseases. According to the WHO, this is done in ways that are commensurate with and restricted to public health risks, and which avoid unnecessary interference with international...

Residents of Mount Salem, St. James, were apprehensive when the first Zone of Special Operations (ZOSO) was declared in the community, in 2017; however, today they are saluting the initiative as “a good three years”. Not only has the ZOSO served as a tool to contain crime but has helped to rebrand the community and transform the residents’ lives. Resident...

As the country deals with the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the Government has put in place measures to protect consumers from price gouging as they purchase products to protect themselves from the virus. Price gouging is the practice of increasing the price of an item that is in demand in the midst of a disaster (natural) or emergency...

Several business leaders have endorsed the Government’s decision to seek access to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) as part of measures to cushion Jamaica against the precipitous economic fallout being projected as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The RFI provides rapid financial assistance to IMF member countries facing urgent balance of payment requirements, consequent...

Several micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) have answered the Government’s call to provide innovative solutions in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) by producing protective face masks. Technical Services Manager, Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC), Colin Porter, tells JIS News the Corporation has been working with its MSME clients to produce face masks using the recommended health and safety specifications....

As the world grapples with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Government recently engaged children and youth in a special digital town hall meeting to address their questions and concerns. To support their participation in the event, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) solicited questions through its social messaging tool, ‘U-Report’, which is used to learn more about the views...

Elderly persons are being encouraged to protect and maintain their health, as the country continues to fight the Coronavirus (COVID-19). An article published by the World Health Organization (WHO) says that although all age groups are at risk of contracting COVID-19, older people face significant risks of developing severe illnesses if they contract the disease, due to physiological changes that...

With many parents balancing working from home and home-schooling their children, due to measures to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), some are overwhelmed by this temporary 'new normal'. Enter the National Parenting Support Commission (NPSC), which has established 36 helplines across the island to aid parents as they grapple with the effects of the COVID–19 pandemic. The...

The St. Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) in Santa Cruz has come to the aid of parents, who are facing financial hardship due to the effects of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, providing them with care packages containing food items. Some 50 families have so far benefited from the initiative, in particular those on the Programme of Advancement Through Health...