Sandra Ferguson resides with her children and grandchildren in a concrete dwelling that is sectioned into four living quarters in the Fort George Road area of Annotto Bay. With 10 of them sharing kitchen and bathroom facilities, Ferguson said...

Edmond Campbell/Senior Parliamentary Reporter Conceding that healthcare workers in the public sector are burnt out as they combat COVID-19, Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton says the Government is taking steps to boost its...

Days after The Gleaner reported a clarion call from Port Maria Mayor Richard Creary for the quarantine of St Mary communities owing to growing concerns about the spread of COVID-19 in the parish, the Government responded with the lockdown of three...

It was not the landing the Jamaicans who arrived at Kingston’s Norman Manley International Airport on Wednesday evening would want again. The 43 Jamaican ship workers of the Marella Discovery 2 were among the 115 people aboard the TUI charter flight that touched down amid the Kingston breeze and evening sunset.

“I know this has been some difficult times for us with the pandemic, but I know we are going to get through this together – Jamaica together. We are going to continue our social distancing. We are going to continue practising our incredible hygiene...

The People’s National Party (PNP) has asserted that the absence of a quarantine order for three St Mary communities is adding to the state of confusion. The 14-day measure began on Thursday in Dover, Enfield and Annotto Bay at 6 a.m. “The lack of...

Many taxi and bus operators in sections of Kingston and St Andrew are seemingly adhering to social-distancing guidelines outlined by the Government for the sector, in terms of the number of passengers they are allowed to transport at a time. These...

DOVER, St Mary: Residents of Epsom and Dover in St Mary are on edge, but have accepted quarantine measures imposed by the Government to curtail the spread of the dreaded coronavirus in that parish. Security checkpoints at both ends of the parish...

It was a double whammy of inconvenience for Sharon Carter, a vendor in Metcalfe Market, Annotto Bay. Carter, who lives in St Catherine, had just recently been relieved of the lockdown in the parish and is now being affected by the quarantine which...

The wet weather last Saturday (May 2) could not dampen the spirits of award-winning gospel artiste and ordained evangelist Kevin Downswell as he ventured into the St Catherine community of Central Village, where he spent some of his formative years...

The Senate on Friday paid tribute to distinguished consultant psychiatrist, Frederick Hickling, for his tremendous contribution to persons with intellectual disabilities. Hickling died on Thursday. Senator Dr Saphire Longmore remembered Professor...

No sooner than the Government’s announced its intention to restart the economy, private sector groups are advocating for longer working hours to fast-track recovery during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a collaborative move, the Jamaica Manufacturers...

May 10, Mother’s Day, is a special day on the calendar when many people make big plans to spend the day or the weekend with their mothers. However, this year some people may rethink their plans as they would not want to expose their beloved mothers...

Vendors and store operators who would normally score big on Mother’s Day baskets are lamenting that the novel coronavirus has put a dent in their sales. Kaydyonne Thomas, owner of a gift store in the Pavilion Mall, located in Half Way Tree, said...

Scores of people who turned up yesterday at the Pavilion Mall to collect their government-issued compassionate grants at Western Union made a mockery of physical distancing as they converge on the financial institution. There were long lines...

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Thirty three Trinidad and Tobago nationals who have been stranded in Barbados since March 23 are scheduled to return home on Tuesday. It’s reported that early Tuesday, National Security Minister...

Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Dr Carissa F. Etienne, today called for accelerated and expanded testing for COVID-19 in countries of the Americas. “We need a clearer view of where the virus is circulating and how...

WASHINGTON, CMC – The World Bank has predicted the sharpest decline of remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean, saying that global remittances on a whole are projected to fall by about 20 percent in 2020 due to the economic crisis...

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti, CMC – The Government of Haiti has received funds amounting to US$16.1 million from the United States to help the country respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The funds from the United States Agency for International...

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – The Barbados-based the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) says its executive director, Ronald Jackson, is leaving the post after seven years “of unwavering and exemplary service to the...

Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley has announced a phased reopening of government and business operations, ending a mandatory 24-hour lockdown imposed on April 3 amid the global coronavirus pandemic. The phased reopening will begin on...

KINGSTOWN, St Vincent, CMC – The St Vincent and the Grenadines Government has denied a United States-based airline permission to land, dashing hopes that an estimated 300 nationals employed with a US-based cruise line would have arrived home...

Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Carissa Etienne, today urged for vaccination programmes to continue during the COVID-19 pandemic. “If we fall behind on routine immunisations, particularly for children, we risk...

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti, CMC – The Ministry of Public Health has confirmed that a 20-year-old man has become the seventh person in Haiti to die of the coronavirus (COVID-19). It is urging the population to follow restriction measures, including...

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – The Guyana government Friday confirmed that US$4.9 million had been deposited into the Natural Resources Fund as a result of the first royalty payment for the country’s crude oil. Finance Minister, Winston...

OLIEVENHOUTBOS, South Africa (AP) — Thousands of people stood in line for hours on Saturday in a South African township waiting for handouts of food. The scene has repeated for days in one of the world’s most unequal countries as...

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley Saturday dismissed as a “dishonest last gasp and gamble of a dangerously delusional woman” a statement by Opposition Leader Kamla Persad Bissessar calling for him...

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The Trinidad and Tobago government Saturday said it had uncovered a plot by persons to defraud the state and that a new mechanism would be put in place Monday in providing rental assistance to people impacted by...

HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC –  Bermuda recorded its seventh COVID-19 death on Saturday as Finance Minister Curtis Dickinson announced that he would need to rewrite this year’s budget because of the battering from the global...

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – A few weeks before the official start of the 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season, forecasters at the US-based Colorado State University are warning that the six-month period will be more active than normal. The CSU...

BELMOPAN, Belize, CMC – Police Commissioner Chester Williams said there would be “absolutely no room for negotiation” after a family of four, including two minors, were arrested over the last weekend for illegally entering Belize...

As of May 6, officials in Nevis are reporting that there are no active cases of the deadly COVID-19 virus on the island. This was confirmed Tuesday by Premier Mark Brantley, Minister responsible for Health, in the Nevis Island Administration....

KINGSTOWN, St Vincent, CMC – St Vincent and the Grenadines students in Jamaica wanting to return home amid the coronavirus (COVID-19, including locked borders, must each pay an estimated US$1,3339 for a return flight. In a letter to the...

ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC –A senior education official Thursday said students would sit the Grade Six National Assessment examinations later this year, despite the disruption caused to the education system by the coronavirus (COVID-19). Dominica...

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The Trinidad-based Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) is urging people in the region to remember that despite the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, they must be mindful that other public health threats still...

THE EDITOR, Madam: I arrived at the Constant Spring tax office at 6:05 a.m. on Monday, May 4 to renew my vehicle registration. At that hour, there were already 30 persons ahead of me. Persons related horror stories of spending up to five hours in...

THE EDITOR, Madam: How many more will have to suffer? How many more will have to die to end the discrimination often meted out to persons suspected of or confirmed with COVID-19? The novel coronavirus is highly contagious, seems so mysterious, and...

THE EDITOR, Madam May is Child Month, and we, as parents, would show love and appreciation by taking out our kids for recreation, but instead, we have to keep them indoors because of a bush tiger called coronavirus. Every year at this time, I...

THE EDITOR, Madam: The devastating news of Jodian Fearon’s death has resulted in public outrage and concern. The controversy and seemingly negligent actions of the hospitals involved have left many Jamaicans anxious about our health system and...

THE EDITOR, Madam: In times of great challenge and hardship we must continue, as a people, to uphold the values and attitudes that make us truly Jamaican. It is a time for true patriotism and for us to reach down and pull up those among us with...

THE EDITOR, Madam: I am an educator at the secondary level. I teach at a school that is located in the western part of Jamaica. I am writing this letter with a high level of distress. The Ministry of Education is asking for too much at this point...

The Editor, Madam: Today, as we celebrate Teachers’ Day, I pause in reflection, looking back at some of the educators who have deeply impacted me. Let me start with the principal of my primary school. She was a God-fearing woman, but I suppose,...

THE EDITOR, Madam: THE JAMAICA Council for Persons with Disabilities (JCPD) – an agency of the Ministry of Labour...

THE EDITOR, Madam: COVID-19 can be made to be the blame bearer for every ill, unless careful disaggregation is done to separate what is truly attributable to both its real scope and the understandable ripple effects of the virus. The quality of...

THE EDITOR, Madam: “WHY CAN’T vehicle registration be renewed online?” That’s the question asked by Dr Rory Dixon, senior medical officer, Sir John Golding Rehabilitation Centre, in his letter to The Gleaner on Tuesday, May 5. The first paragraph...

THE EDITOR, Madam: THE JAMAICAN economy has been underperforming for the last 40 years, during which economic growth averaged approximately one per cent per annum. One of the main reasons for this poor performance is the non-competitive nature of...

THE EDITOR, Madam: TO THE Jamaican Government: there are no trade laws that say you have to buy poison – foreign chicken, beef, produce and other agricultural staples are poisonous. They are chock-full of hormones, antibiotics, fillers, excess...

THE EDITOR, Madam: As the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps through across the world, causing stress, and pain for everyone; I would like to commend Andrew Holness, prime minister of Jamaica; Dr Christopher Tufton, minister of health and wellness; and Dr...

THE EDITOR, Madam: On Wednesday at 8:30 a.m., while watching TVJ, I saw Get Moving home workout series. Very good, TVJ and the Ministry of Health, for bringing this workout programme into our homes. Minister Tufton was a participant; he truly...

THE EDITOR, Madam: The Jamaican Government and local private-sector power brokers are still way behind and woefully lacking in investing, financially and otherwise, in Jamaica’s number one most powerful, most famous, most influential, and most...