Doctor warns gov't not to be strong-armed by cruise line with Jamaicans aboard

 

Dr. Alfred Dawes, former senior medical officer at Savanna-la-Mar Hospital, has said the Government of Jamaica must not allow itself to be strong-armed by Royal Caribbean Cruise.

 

The cruise line, through its Adventure of the Seas ship, is attempting to repatriate more than 1,000 Jamaican crew members. 

 

But Dr. Dawes believes it was wrong of the cruise line to want to enter Jamaican waters without approval. 

 

"What is happening is that this is a large multi-national company that is holding a big stick over our head because of their market capitalisation because of how much we benefit from their cruise ships coming to Jamaica," he reasoned. 

 

Dr. Dawes said the government cannot afford to take the risk of allowing the Jamaicans to enter without undergoing the 14-day quarantine to satisfy local health requirements. 

 

"The last time we had cruise ship workers who were supposedly cleared, we had six positive tests and we simply cannot, at the stage, when we are tentatively reopening the country, when we're looking at restarting the economy, when we have done so well in flattening our curve and limiting the number of deaths and ICU admissions - there is no overburdening of hospitals more than two months into the epidemic in Jamaica," he argued. 

                                                                            

Dr. Dawes has encouraged the government to seek to have the Adventure of the Seas host the Jamaicans for a 14-day quarantine period.

 

"Let them dock and then we complete our checks, our medical personnel go on board and then check the persons under quarantine and let it be a quarantine centre in our waters," he suggested.