The impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has dominated (or cancelled) virtually every way of life in Jamaica, and as 2020 comes to a close in three days, citizens in the capital Kingston are facing limited options for ringing in the New Year.

For many, there are mixed feelings around welcoming 2021, since the signature Kingston Fireworks on the Waterfront got scraped by the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) back in November.

It’s an unusual situation for 35-year-old administrator Angeline Baker, who usually looks forward to New Year’s Eve annually to reflect on God and socialise for ‘watch night’.

“It will be a first, but I still plan on going to church, just virtually. My church understands that the pandemic is still a threat and has opted to move our annual watch night service to Zoom,” she told Our Today.

Baker noted that there are options for churchgoers to attend in person, but they would have to leave at 9:00 p.m. on December 31 – to make it home before the nightly curfew, which starts at 10:00 p.m.

Notwithstanding, Baker said she was grateful for the many lessons learned throughout 2020 and hopes that, with the COVID-19 vaccine and greater consideration for public safety by other Jamaicans, a sense of normalcy and unity will be enjoyed across the country very soon.

“Yes, things are hard now, but, as a Christian, this isn’t surprising. The Bible has taught me to trust in God and, like many other challenges, we will overcome this adversity called COVID-19,” she told Our Today.

“Stick to the guidelines, Jamaica. We’re all in this together. Let’s work to make our country ‘corona-free’ for 2021,” Baker pleaded.

In the eyes of Prince Wilson, 2020 started out terribly but he later saw a turn in fortune. The 30-year-old taxi operator said that, even with the curfew and social restrictions, his current plans are quiet and scaled back but he is down for a little excitement.

“I plan to be around good friends, talk and enjoy the last minutes we have before the New Year chip in,” he explained.

While ‘Fireworks’ has been cancelled in Kingston, as a government-sponsored event, Wilson did not rule out the possibility of going out on New Year’s Eve to ring in 2021 at an illegal party.

“I would go because I still want to see the fireworks and just be in the moment. I’m aware that the curfew is 10 o’clock but if the opportunity presents itself I’d risk it,” he told Our Today.

As the prospect of illegal parties proliferates across the island, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) said it will continue to shut these events down as they become aware of them.

Senior Superintendent of Police tephanie Lindsay, head of the JCF’s Corporate Communications Unit, admitted the police are aware of that individuals intend to host illegal events and the authority’s stance on shutting them down has not changed.

“Where we acknowledge that persons are planning these events, we have a strategy to prevent them from starting and where we detect them happening, we go and we close them down. Where persons fail to comply, we prosecute,” Lindsay told Our Today.

Lindsay also reiterated that churches are allowed to remain open until 9:00 on watch night, and that anyone caught ‘well into the curfew’ without a reasonable explanation would be charged for breaches of the Disaster Risk Management Act.