News
JAM | May 8, 2023

Ministry of Health urges vigilance against COVID-19 despite WHO’s declaration

Tamoy Ashman

Tamoy Ashman / Our Today

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The Ministry of Health and Wellness is urging Jamaicans to remain vigilant of the COVID-19 virus despite the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recent declaration that the COVID-19 pandemic is no longer a public health emergency of international concern.

In a release today (May 8) the Ministry said that they have acknowledged the WHO’s declaration. However, they are still urging citizens to remain vigilant because of the country’s recent increase in respiratory illness. The circulating viruses include COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) and influenza.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Friday (May 5) said he made the decision to end the public health emergency for COVID following a recommendation from the WHO’s emergency committee.

“I have accepted that advice,” Tedros said. “It is therefore with great hope that I declare COVID-19 over as a global health emergency.”

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. (Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/Pool via REUTERS)

The meeting highlighted the decreasing trend in COVID-19 deaths, the decline in COVID-19-related hospitalization, and intensive care unit admissions. They also noted that high levels of the population are immune to SARS-CoV-2.

However, Jamaica continues to record new cases of the COVID-19 virus. The latest weekly virus update showed 46 new cases recorded between April 18 and 24 this year. Jamaica has recorded more than 102,000 COVID cases since March 2020.

There have also been more than 3,000 COVID- related deaths recorded since the beginning of the pandemic, and 350 deaths are under investigation.

Tags
Coronavirus Pandemic COVID-19 Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus Jamaica Ministry of Health and Wellness Public Health Emergency World Health Organization

Comments

What To Read Next

News JAM Jul 8, 2025

Morris Dixon condemns PNP attacks and false allegations on Rural School Bus System

Reading Time: 3 minutesThe Minister of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, Dana Morris Dixon is describing attacks by the parliamentary opposition on the Government’s Rural School Bus System, for which phase 1 will be rolled out starting September 2025, as baseless, unfortunate and unhelpful, particularly given the importance of the initiative to thousands of children and families across rural Jamaica.

Minister Dixon says she is particularly disappointed by remarks from Opposition Leader Mark Golding who used a political platform to disparage the buses as “old” and proposed that school children be transported by “di likkle man who have dem pro-box and AR wagon”.
News JAM Jul 8, 2025

Governmemt invests $67.5 billion to boost water supply in Western Jamaica

Reading Time: 2 minutesPrime Minister Andrew Holness has urged Jamaicans to remain faithful as the government continues to work to ensure that all residents have access to an adequate water supply.

“For the communities that are without water now, your voice is heard. I personally care about it. And the government that I administer on your behalf, we are working hard to correct and improve. And you can take hope and have faith because others who were in your position now have water,” he said.
News JAM Jul 8, 2025

Mottley urges CARICOM to deepen regional unity amid rising challenges

Reading Time: 3 minutesPrime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, has called on CARICOM leaders to continue championing regional unity as the Caribbean faces growing social, economic, and geopolitical challenges.

Reflecting on her first address to the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM in 2018, Mottley noted that the region is now confronting perhaps its most difficult period since achieving independence.