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JHTA President Clifton Reader and MAJ President Dr. Andrew Manning
The Government of Jamaica has banned all flights coming into the island from the UK for a two-week period, following news that a new and potentially more infectious variant of COVID-19 is spreading through the British population.
In a statement Monday afternoon, the government said the ban would be effective immediately and end on January 4, 2021.
However, flights coming into the country over the next 24 hours and outbound flights to the UK will be allowed up to midnight Tuesday, December 22.
Jamaica is expecting three flights from the UK over the next 24 hours, one of which is already enroute, however, passengers who board those flights will be subjected to a minimum of 48-hour state quarantine and PCR testing.
Passengers who test negative will be fitted with armbands for monitoring and released to complete their 14-day quarantine at home, while those found to be positive will be isolated in state facilities until recovered.
Family members of persons who arrive on these flights will be able to pick up their relatives after the minimum 48-hour quarantine. Family members are reminded that they must strictly adhere to the infection prevention and control measures when picking up their relatives, as well as during the mandatory quarantine period as persons may develop symptoms during the 14-day quarantine period and therefore transmit the virus to others.
Persons who arrive in country from other ports of entry via the UK will also be required to adhere to all restrictions, in line with provisions under the Quarantine Act.
The government has strongly advised Jamaicans not to travel to the UK. It said those who travel overseas, including to UK, will be subject to the established quarantine or isolation procedures on their return to Jamaica.
JHTA
Clifton Reader, President of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), had said he expected to hear from Prime Minister Andrew Holness quickly on the government's response to the new COVID-19 variant in the UK.
Mr. Reader had urged the government to put in place containment measures to protect its citizens.
"It is very, very important that we protect our citizens and not really importing this virus or this new strain into Jamaica, especially at this time when we are struggling with hospital beds, with just containing the current virus in several locales at this time," he asserted.
Mr. Reader said he is cognizant of the impact the new strain will have on tourism.
"We were really looking that by April, we would see a really nice uptick in the booking coming to Jamaica, but right now with this spread of a new strain of virus, it seems as if it's gonna impact us badly. We're hoping not, and we're also hoping that the vaccine will act against it.... Once source market is vaccinated, then our industry will survive, will start to pick up," he anticipated.
MAJ
Dr. Andrew Manning, President of the Medical Association of Jamaica, had also urged the government to decide swiftly what action it would take in relation to the new COVID-19 strain found in the UK.
He noted that it is "concerning" that the new strain is more contagious, which would mean more people catching the virus in a shorter period of time.
Grenada
Jamaica's advisory follows a similar move by the Grenadian government to suspend air traffic from the United Kingdom following the announcement of a new strain of the coronavirus in parts of the UK.
The measure took effect on Sunday.
The government said anyone who has been in the UK in the previous 14 days will not be permitted entry to the country.
The government said it will continue to closely monitor developments related to COVID-19 in the UK, and make further adjustments to its entry protocols.
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