AS the Caribbean Region continues to deal with the increasing cases of the corona/COVID-19 virus and its impact, the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) has announced a closure of its Western Zone Office in Kingston, Jamaica, and noted that the situation’s impact on the holding of regional examinations was discussed.

In press releases issued on Sunday, the council informed the Region that the closure of the Western Zone Office, will take effect from Monday, March 16, with normal operations at the office scheduled to resume on March 30.

“In the interim, we are taking the necessary steps to minimise disruptions to our activities during this critical time. The public will be served remotely by the Western Zone Office team and through our corporate office in Barbados,” the statement said.
It noted that online resources are still available on their official website cxc.org, the CXC Learning Hub, and their e-learning platform, learninghub.cxc.org, which provides learners and instructors with a single access point to multiple resources geared towards exam preparation.

“CXC is taking a proactive approach to manage the impact of the COVID-19 virus and has been implementing a number of measures consistent with established national protocol in controlling the spread,” they noted.
The council said that a meeting with representatives from the Ministries of Education had been convened to discuss administration of regional examinations and the respective national protocols.

The council administers the regional Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) at secondary schools, customarily during the May/June period.

“The council presented and discussed various scenarios as it relates to the administration of its examinations. The council will continue to work with the governments of the various territories to arrive at a regional consensus and will update the public accordingly. Rest assured that as the management and staff of the council continue to monitor the emerging situation, our first priority is the health and well-being of all our stakeholders,” the council said in the statement.

CXC is the examination board under the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), which comprises 15 member states, including Guyana.
Six out of the 15 nations have thus far recorded at least one case of the coronavirus, beginning with Jamaica, which recorded its first case on March 10. That number has since increased to 10 cases as of Sunday last, according to data provided on the World Health Organisation (WHO) website.

Guyana and St Vincent and the Grenadines recorded their first cases on March 11, while that was followed by Trinidad and Tobago discovering their first case on March 12. Suriname and Antigua and Barbuda recorded their first cases on March 13.
Trinidad’s cases have since increased to two, while Guyana is listed with six cases, according to the WHO website.

Officially declared a global pandemic by the WHO, the coronavirus has been sweeping the globe since the first outbreak originated in Wuhan, China, in December, 2019.
According to CARPHA, coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV).

Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, coughs, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death.
According to WHO statistics, as of last Sunday, there have been 153,648 confirmed cases of infected persons in 146 countries across the globe with 5746 deaths occurring thus far as a result of the spread.