Tighter curfew, gathering restrictions announced as Gov’t seeks to curb spiking COVID-19 cases
Gavin Riley / Our Today
administrator
As Jamaica sees a worrying spike in novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases, Prime Minister Andrew Holness says the islandwide, nightly curfews will return to 8:00 pm effective Wednesday, February 10.
Holness, speaking in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, said the amended curfew hours will continue to end at 5:00 am daily, with the measure lasting for an initial period of two weeks. Holness explained that the government will review the order on Wednesday, February 24, during which time Jamaicans will know if the curfews will return to 10:00 pm nightly or be further reduced.
The prime minister, reporting on the deliberations of Cabinet on Monday, noted further that public gatherings have been reduced from a maximum of 15 persons at any given time to 10.
Holness warned that the security forces will be “active” on the streets to enforce the curfew order.
“We have tightened the measures initially for a two-week period
and we will observe the impact and adjust going forward as
necessary,” he said.
“The security forces will be exercising greater vigilance to
ensure that the curfew hours as well as the other measures in
the DRMA (Disaster Risk Management Act) are complied with,” Holness continued.
The prime minister said that while the island is yet to confirm a new phase of the pandemic, the government will remain vigilant to prevent the situation from “spiralling out of control” and breaking an already overburdened healthcare system.
“At the same time, there is no need to panic. We must
recommit to strict observance of all the protocols that have
served us well since the beginning of the pandemic to protect
lives and livelihoods,” Holness concluded.
Jamaica saw a new record of 403 new COVID-19 cases confirmed in the last 24 hours, bringing the island’s cumulative total to 17,701. It is the third time in the last five days that the country has surpassed its daily COVID rate.
The positivity rate from the daily tests has also skyrocketed as Holness noted, at 20.8 per cent currently, the pace at which cases are appearing has nearly tripled when compared to the last week of December 2020.
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