Jamaica prepares for robust winter season

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Prime minister Andrew Holness has announced new curfew hours, from 8:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m., seven days per week, effective Friday, October 29; explained that with this adjustment, “Sunday will no longer be a no-movement day”.

“This new curfew will remain in effect until December 10, 2021. I will have some consultations with interest groups, and I will definitely call up the leader of the opposition, Mark Golding early so that we can have a consensus as to what to do [during] Christmas,” said Holness.

The existing work-from-home directive in the public sector remains in place until December 9, subject to review in three weeks. “Depending on the level of increase in our vaccination rate (and) continued decrease in the positivity rate, then we could come back with even better news,” expressed prime minister Holness.

Meantime, the government of Jamaica has equipped the public health system to manage the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and future emergencies, with a $40 million genome sequencing machine at the National Influenza Centre (NIC) at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) in St Andrew on Friday, October 22.

“There will always be adverse events outside of our control” and the government must be “deliberate and systematic in building our resilience and investing in our capacity to understand future shocks, and this is exactly what we are doing. We are enhancing our national capacity to test for not only new variants that cause COVID-19, but for other viruses that may emerge in the future,” said Holness.

The Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ) has also announced the secure return of cruise operations at all the island’s ports by early December 2021.

“The port of Ocho Rios has enjoyed a steady schedule of calls since the restart of operations in August, with visits by Carnival Sunrise and MSC Meraviglia, and these should continue throughout the season. Port Royal will host several ships from ultra-luxury premium cruise lines this season, including calls from Holland America Cruise Line – Nieuw Statendam & Nieuw Amsterdam; Crystal Cruises – Crystal Serenity & Crystal Symphony; and Seabourn Cruise Line – Seabourn Ovation, which is a brand-new ship from Saga Cruises (Spirit of Adventure),” reports JIS.