With current COVID-19 containment measures set to expire at 5 am on Friday morning (September 17), it is anticipated that Prime Minister Andrew Holness will address the nation’s handling of the pandemic over the last two weeks and the measures that will be implemented as a result, in a scheduled parliamentary address on Wednesday (September 15).

Jamaica has over the last few weeks been battling a devastating third COVID-19 wave, fuelled by the presence of the highly transmissible Delta variant.

As of Monday (September 13), the virus had infected some 76,987 persons since the start of the pandemic and claimed the lives of 1,736 persons.

Among the measures most recently implemented by the Government of Jamaica to tackle the COVID-19 spread were four consecutive weeks of three-day lockdowns, 7 pm nightly curfews and gathering limits for places of worship and burials.

While these measures were met with much resistance, particularly from business owners who argued that a two and a half-day work-week was unsustainable, with three-digit daily new cases continuing to be recorded each week the relaxation of many of the measures previously introduced is unlikely.