The new genome sequencing machine acquired through support from the CHASE Fund should strengthen the region’s capacity to test for new variants of the coronavirus (COVID-19). Before the machine was sourced, samples were sent to Trinidad for testing, being the only other Caribbean country at the time with a genome sequencer. This meant that Jamaican samples were queued behind the...

The Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) of the St. Ann’s Bay Primary School is working closely with the administration of the St. Ann-based institution to ensure seamless operations as students return to face-to-face learning. After being closed for 22 months due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the school reopened for in-person classes on January 10, following approval from the Ministry of Education...

The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has upended normal life, but it has also unleashed the resilience and entrepreneurial spirit for which Jamaicans are known. Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC), Harold Davis, tells JIS News that the Companies Office of Jamaica (COJ) recorded its highest number of persons registering new businesses in 2020/21. Entrepreneurs and investors...

Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, says that having a framework in place to guide decision-making and establishing partnerships are some of the critical measures that enabled Jamaica to manage the risks associated with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Dr. Tufton was addressing a panel discussion entitled ‘Enhancing Resilient Infrastructure’ during the just concluded Seventh Regional Platform...

Janet Lewin was in a happy place, she was expecting a baby boy and enjoying the different stages of her pregnancy, until she got to her fourth month and contracted the coronavirus (COVID-19). “In the early part of 2021, I contracted the virus. At first, I wasn’t aware, it took me a few days to find out. I had been...

The recent coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination mobilisation and public education blitz in Pembroke Hall, St. Andrew, was a welcome engagement for the residents. Hundreds converged at the Pembroke Hall community centre for the exercise organised by the Ministry of Health and Wellness, which saw the AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson vaccines being administered and information on their efficacy and safety being...

“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....