News

Preliminary results indicate 5 more COVID-19 cases in Jamaica. According to the Health Ministry, two of the cases are connected to a patient who travelled from the United Kingdom. A third patient is from western Jamaica with a travel history to Trinidad and Tobago and sat on-board the same flight as a confirmed case. An […]

Cases of COVID-19 have now been confirmed in 9 Caribbean countries/territories. Cases have been confirmed in Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Martinique, Guyana, Dominican Republic, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, Guadeloupe, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The virus has been spreading around the region with the first confirmed COVID-19 related death occurring in Guyana this week. […]

The number of confirmed cases COVID-19 cases in Jamaica continues to rise and is now at 8. The first two confirmed cases in the island involved the virus being imported from the UK. There are now 6 new confirmed cases, 2 of which resulted from contact with the first patient confirmed to have COVID-19 in […]

The first Coronavirus death in the Caribbean has occurred in Guyana. In the country’s first confirmed case, a 52 year old female citizen died hours before it was confirmed by tests that she had COVID-19. Authorities in Guyana say that she recently arrived in the country on March 5th from the United States.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness has announced that for the next 14 days there will be a ban on social gatherings which require permits. The Prime Minister also advises against non-essential travel and said that the Government is assessing the extent of travel restrictions related to the United Kingdom.

$7 Billion in contingency funding has been earmarked by the Ministry of Finance and Public Service to be available to respond to the threat posed by the virus.   The Minister of Finance and Public Service, Dr. Nigel Clarke says the money will be used as needed to procure medical and other supplies; to improve […]

The government of Jamaica has carried a knife to the General Consumption Tax (GCT) as the Minister of Finance and Public Service, Dr. Nigel Clarke, announced yesterday that the rate will be reduced from 16.5% to 15% as of April 1, 2020. The cut to the rate of GCT was announced with other cuts in […]

Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. Christopher Tufton, by tweet, has confirmed a second case of imported corona virus in Jamaica in the form of a US Embassy employee who returned to the island from the United Kingdom. The confirmation comes after reports that some employees at the US Embassy in Kingston had self-quarantined themselves […]

After a lengthy meeting between the Government, the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) and GraceKennedy (title sponsor) a decision has been taken to cancel the Boys’ and Girls’ Athletic Championships. The decision made as a result of the coronavirus pandemic will result in the championships not being held for the second time in its 110 […]

After confirmations of the virus in at least 114 countries including Jamaica, the World Health Organization (WHO) has officially designated COVID-19 as a pandemic today. The decease has infected around 120,000 people around the globe and killed more than 4000 people around. As a result WHO is now encouraging countries to act urgently and aggressively […]