Some of the measures have been extended to November 16 while others were extended to November 30, 2020.

Speaking yesterday at a media briefing to update the nation, Prime Minister Holness acknowledged the issue of COVID-19 fatigue and asserted that it is no excuse for disobeying the law and disrespecting law enforcement officers.

“We told the security forces to maintain the Orders and increase their presence. There are other ways of dealing with the stress of coping with these restrictions and managing the pandemic. As a Government, we will never countenance any action that results in the breaking of the law threatening the lives of our law enforcement officers and first responders,” said Prime Minister Holness.

The extended measures are as follows:

• The islandwide curfew will remain at 9:00 PM to 5:00 AM daily until November 16, 2020.
• Persons 65 and over must continue to stay at home but will be allowed to leave home once each day for the necessities of life until November 30, 2020.
• The limit for public gatherings remains at 15 persons.
• Public passenger motor cars will be limited, to one person less than the number of persons allowed until November 16, 2020.
• Drivers of public passenger vehicles will be given one hour before and after the curfew to leave their home and get to the destination of their first passenger and after dropping off their last passenger to go home.
• The ban on funerals, parties, and other events will continue burials will continue to be allowed with strict observation and enforcement of the 15-person rule until November 30, 2020.
• Churches, hospitals, and nursing homes will continue to operate under the same protocols.
• The current protocols under the controlled re-entry programme for both residents and visitors remain until November 16, 2020, while the requirements for pretesting and quarantine remain the same.
• All businesses are encouraged to facilitate their employees working from home if they can do so.

The measures for the communities of Rae Town in Kingston and Cornwall Courts in St. James under special curfew orders have been extended until November 6, 2020.

• The curfew will continue from 6:00 PM to 5:00 AM, and during curfew hours, only essential workers with identification will be allowed to enter or exit.
• The gathering limit will be no more than six (6) persons in any public place for the period.
• All the other existing restrictions such as wearing masks and physical distancing will be strictly enforced.

12 schools will be at the primary level and 5 at the secondary level in the parishes of Clarendon, Manchester, Portland, St. Ann, St. Elizabeth, St. James, Westmoreland, St. Thomas and Trelawny.

“During the first few days the Ministry will be working with the schools and parents to ensure that the parents and students have the necessary information to prepare for the face to face opening come November 9,” said Minister Williams.

During that time, the Ministry will do an assessment, to determine how well the pilot is working and assess are other emerging issues that may need to be considered to make future decisions.

• Gatherings have been reduced from 20 to 15 persons.
• For any such gatherings, social distance of the minimum 6ft must be maintained.
• Churches are prohibited from hosting funeral services, conventions and other special events.
• Burials may continue, with no more than 15 persons at the graveside, including the clergy and the funeral home personnel.
• Worship services may continue within the existing guidelines, requiring temperature checks, sanitization and the mandatory wearing of masks during services.
• Employers are encouraged to allow employees to work from home where possible.
• Persons 70 years and older are required to work from home and otherwise, must stay home. They are however permitted to leave home once per day for medical care, food, exercise and other essentials of life.
• Taxi operators should now carry one person less than the maximum number of persons allowed to be carried under the relevant licence, from September 8 – 22.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness says the Government will refine the measures for restocking during the St. Catherine Lockdown.

He says the new measures will allow more time for shopping and better promotion and enforcement of  social distancing.

The Prime Minister’s comments came yesterday (April 18), while touring areas of Portmore and Spanish Town for the purpose of evaluating the implementation of the lock-down measures.

“The number of persons shopping inside the shopping district in both Portmore and Spanish Town was overwhelming today. Normally you would have had persons leaving Portmore to shop in Kingston or who would have already shopped  in Kingston, in addition, some persons would be taking precautionary measures by stocking up. As a result  there was a greater than normal demand today and on Wednesday. We expect that this will moderate as the measures are extended,” said Prime Minister Holness.

In that regard, Prime Minister Holness stated that by Monday, the Government will review and implement more convenient measures that citizens can comply with.

The Prime Minister emphasized the importance of balancing the adjustments to be sensitive to the needs of the low-income earners who make a living through their day to day economic ventures.

Importantly, Prime Minister Holness noted that most persons in the parish have been respecting the orders and are wearing masks. He, however, observed that more social distancing should be practised.

“The appeal as always, is for us to maintain social distancing. We have asked establishments that are serving the public to at which persons should stand in relation to others. It is hard to ask people to judge three feet or six feet, but if there are markers in place, they can. I am confident that Jamaica will develop this practice in the weeks coming,” said Prime Minister Holness.

The Prime Minister also stated that understandably, it will take some time for citizens to fully appreciate and understand the rules and adjust their schedules and demands around those.

In the meantime, Prime Minister Holness applauded the work being done by the security forces in enforcing the regulations.

• Persons 65 years and older, pregnant women and the disabled will be permitted to conduct the essentials of life between 8 am and 10 am on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
• Persons with surnames beginning with A to H will be permitted to pursue the essentials of life between 10 am and 1:30 pm.
• Persons with surnames beginning with I to P will be permitted to pursue the essentials of life between 1:30 pm and 5 pm.
• Persons with surnames beginning with Q to Z will be permitted to pursue the essentials of life between 5 pm and 8:30 pm.
• Businesses that can operate will, therefore, be open at 8 am and close at 8:30 pm on Wednesday and Saturday only. This is to facilitate those of the Seventh Day Adventist Faith after Sabbath. The employees are permitted to arrive at 7 am and leave at 9 pm.

• If a person is ill with respiratory illnesses or flu-like symptoms, they are required to stay home and isolate themselves from others in their household.
• All persons in St. Catherine out in public places must have an ID with a visible photograph. Acceptable IDs include; voters ID, passport, driver’s license, ID from a Ministry or Agency, University ID, and School ID.
• Medical Emergencies will be facilitated as they arise.
• Persons 65 years and older, pregnant women and persons with disability  will be permitted to conduct the essentials of life between 8:00 am and 10:00 am on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
• The police and military are to allow the elderly to be accompanied by persons where needed.
• Persons with surnames beginning with A to M will be permitted to pursue the essentials of life between 10:00 am and 1:30 pm.
• Persons with surnames beginning with N to Z will be permitted to pursue the essentials of life between 1:30 pm and 5:00 pm.
• All persons must wear a mask covering their nose and mouth while in public places.
• Businesses that are permitted to remain open will have a duty to put in place social distancing measures as persons use their services.
• Markets in the parish of St. Catherine will be closed and almost all commercial activities will come to a halt with the exception of corner shops, supermarkets, pharmacies, hospitals, medical health centres, and gas stations.

The fundraising effort is aimed at raising $10 Million USD to purchase Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for the country’s health care workers on the frontline battling the COVID19 pandemic in Jamaica.

During an interview with Jamaica Telethon yesterday, Easter Sunday (April 12), Prime Minister Holness said the Government is being very strategic to put in place end to end protocols to ensure that when the borders are reopened, there is no community spread of COVID19.

He encouraged Jamaicans in the diaspora overseas to be patient.

“The Government is working overtime to ensure that we can bring you back home. It’s a very difficult thing because the transmission of the virus here in Jamaica has largely been traced to persons coming in. So, we are being very careful [and] very strategic, I know it is very difficult but I ask you to be patient. We will put in place end to end protocols to ensure that when you come into Jamaica there is no community spread,” said Prime Minister Holness.

According to Prime Minister Holness, while most Jamaicans are adjusting to the new normal, the Government is making efforts to minimize and contain the spread of the virus, so that if the outbreaks increase, Jamaicans will be in a position to protect themselves through hygiene and social distancing practices.

“Those practices [handwashing, social distancing] will help to protect you, and slow down the disease. At the same time, it will reduce the burden on the health system. We are going to try and contain it for as long as possible until we are certain that all Jamaicans are seized of the importance; there is no vaccine, there is no settled upon a course of treatment. The only vaccine is your behavior,” said Prime Minister Holness.

In the meantime, the Prime Minister encouraged Jamaicans to reflect on the Easter Holiday with optimism as there will be a rebirth, regeneration, and resurrection as the country will be better off after COVID-19 has passed.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness has announced that the Government will extend the current islandwide nightly curfew.

Other measures to address the COVID19 pandemic including work from home, closure of the island’s borders and others will also be extended in accordance with the relevant Orders.

The imposition of the curfew means, there will be restrictions on all movement of persons except for those in the medical services (doctors, nurses), persons in the Business Processing Outsourcing industry and other personnel who fall under the essential services, beyond the hours stipulated. Exempted persons will be required to produce valid identification. There will also be restrictions on public transportation.

The Prime Minister made the announcement last night (Monday, March 30) during a virtual press conference at Jamaica House.

Further to the announced amendment under the Disaster Risk Management Act, Prime Minister Holness informed that persons who arrived on the island between March 18-23, are now mandated to report to the Ministry of Health and Wellness via the website; http://jamcovid19.moh.gov.jm or by contacting 888-ONE-LOVE (663-5683) and to “faithfully disclose all information that is required” including their health status and whether they have been observing the guidelines for self-quarantine.

Importantly, the Prime Minister noted that the country is reaching a “turning point” at this stage of the spread of the virus. He underscored that to date, 362 samples have been tested and of the amount 36 tested positive, 9 results are pending and the rest returned negative results.

In the meantime, the Prime Minister stated that, the opening hours of markets will now be extended from the previously announced 6:00am to 2:00pm, to a new time of 6:00am to 6:00pm from Thursday to Saturday. The Prime Minister observed that this extension will allow persons more time to complete their shopping without violating the rules of social distancing.

The Prime Minister reiterated that movement should be limited to homes as this will lessen the chances of the spread of the virus in the country. He again called on all Jamaicans to be responsible and to adhere to the measures announced by the Government.