Jamaica will be on lockdown for a total of seven days as the country grapples with a third wave of COVID-19.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced the seven days of “no movement” during a press conference on August 19, one day after the Ministry of Health and Wellness confirmed that the delta variant was spreading among the population.
The no-movement days announced by the prime minister are Sunday, August 22; Monday, August 23; Tuesday, August 24; Sunday, August 29; Monday, August 30; Tuesday, August 31; and Sunday, September 5.
During these days, only essential workers will be allowed to leave their homes and only essential services such as pharmacies and hospitals will still be allowed to operate. All other persons will have to work from home.
“We have to prevent further transmission and the most effective way of slowing down transmission is to have a complete halt at a point. Stop movement. That’s what it comes down to simply,” Holness said.
Holness said that outside of the no-movement days the nightly curfew will begin at 7:00 pm and end at 5:00 am the next day, except on Saturdays when the curfew begins at 6:00 pm.
He noted, however, that to facilitate the implementation of the new measures, the curfew will be extended on Friday, August 20 and Saturday, August 21.
From August 25 to September 7, no funerals will be allowed to take place and burials will have a maximum capacity of 15 persons.
“The tighter measures we have introduced are necessary because our rising case numbers and hospitalisations are beyond the capacity of our public health system. I urge all Jamaicans to co-operate and to do their part. We all need to work together to get this third wave under control so that we can start opening schools,” Holness said.
Earlier today, Jamaica received some 208,000 doses of vaccines from the United States. Holness said the country currently has sufficient supply to substantially increase the country’s vaccination numbers.
The Prime Minister also warned that if the cases continue to spike through lack of compliance, “we will have no choice but to introduce further measures to restrict movement which will inevitably have an adverse impact on the economy and our livelihoods.”
