BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – The Barbados Parliament Tuesday gave the green light to a further extension of the state of emergency (SOE) as the island deals with a new wave of cases linked to COVID-19.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – Health authorities Wednesday warned Trinidad and Tobago against relaxing “very hard-won gains” in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, as the country prepares to observe the long Easter weekend.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Dr. Carissa Etienne Wednesday warned that countries in the Americas, including the Caribbean, to remain vigilant and urgently close vaccination gaps as cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) surge in Europe and East Asia due to Omicron BA.2 variant.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana – Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony said Tuesday that there were “zero vaccinations” done over the long Easter weekend and appealed to Guyanese to get vaccinated against the coronavirus even as the country relaxes most of the measures that had been put in place to curb the spread of the virus.

GENEVA – The World Health Organization (WHO) Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) says a single-dose Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine delivers solid protection against HPV, the virus that causes cervical cancer.

ST GEORGE’S, Grenada – As Grenada prepares to remove COVID-19 restrictions next Monday, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Shawn Charles has warned citizens that they will be responsible for their own personal protection.

TORTOLA, British Virgin Islands – Health Minister Carvin Malone says the government of this British Overseas territory will be making several amendments to the current COVID-19 regulations in the territory including the removal of the mask mandate in outdoor public spaces.

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti – The Director of Israel’s National Burn Center at the Sheba Medical Centre, Professor Josef Haik, arrived in Haiti earlier this week to help patients who were badly injured when a fuel tanker crashed in the north of the county last December . 

GEORGETOWN, Guyana – Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony Thursday said the government is considering the recommendation by the US-based Center of Disease Control (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to offer coronavirus booster doses to persons 12 years and older.

PARAMARIBO, Suriname – The Suriname government has relaxed a number of the measures put in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

OTTAWA, Canada – Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced over US$170- million in additional funding to support COVID-19 vaccination needs in lower income countries, including the Caribbean. 

GENEVA – The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched its first ever global guidelines to support women and newborns in the postnatal period, the first six weeks after birth.