In June 2020, the CARPHA Medical Microbiology Laboratory (CMML) processed the largest number of samples – an unprecedented achievement in the history of the organisation. The laboratory received a total of 3,250 samples, representing an average of more than 150 samples per business day.
Opinion piece written by Pamela Coke-Hamilton, Director of International Trade and Commodities at UNCTAD
(Caribbean Public Health Agency, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. 2 July 2020) Over the years, the Caribbean region has faced a series of public health challenges. The persistence of diseases such as dengue, and the emergence of new ones such as the Coronavirus (COVID-19). The COVID-19 pandemic has emerged as the biggest threat to the Caribbean region in recent times and has presented a clear and present danger to the health of the Region’s residents, and economies.
A short-term plan to fast-track responses to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Region’s digital sphere is to be ready for the approval of CARICOM Ministers of ICT by the end of July.
STATEMENT BY CHAIRMAN OF THE CARICOM REPARATIONS COMMISSION, SIR HILARY BECKLES, ON THE OBSERVATION OF JUNETEENTH
Tuesday, 16 June 2020
10.30 am – 12.00 pm (EST)
on the Caribbean Renewable Energy Community (CAREC) Platform
Antecedents
The COVID-19 pandemic has catapulted the Region into the future, as far as the jobs landscape was concerned, regional business leader and author, Mr. Wayne Chen, said Wednesday.
He was at the time speaking during a three-hour CARICOM Digital Dialogue hosted by the CARICOM Girls ICT Partnership. It was held via the Zoom and Facebook platforms under the theme ‘Jobs, work and opportunities in the post-COVID-19 Caribbean’.
Following the hugely successful inaugural CARICOM Digital Dialogue, the CARICOM Girls in ICT Partnership will host another regional virtual session on 27 May 2020.
There have been clear shifts in the demand for energy in the Caribbean as the novel coronavirus pandemic continues.
Like other areas, the energy sector in the Caribbean has been impacted by the virus that has caused serious disruptions worldwide. Border closures, country lockdowns and other protocols that have been instituted to slow the spread of the virus have caused domino effects of labour challenges and delays in the importation of fuel, for example.
The outbreak of the COVId-19 disease was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, with the earliest known case with symptoms being revealed on 1 December 2019. It was later declared as a Public Health Emergency by the World Health Organization on 30 January 2020, and, subsequently, as a pandemic on 11 March 2020. As of 24 April 2020, close to three million cases of COVID-19 have been reported, about 190,000 death