More than 100 Jamaicans who were stranded overseas arrived on the island Wednesday evening on a chartered TUI flight from the United Kingdom.
The Jamaicans were left stranded after the Jamaican government closed the island’s port to incoming passengers, as one of the measures to slow the spread of the deadly coronavirus pandemic on the island. Included were 75 crew members from one cruise ship passenger line while the other 40 were stranded in the UK for various other reasons.
They were taken from the plane and immediately into a St Ann hotel, where they will be tested for COVID-19 and quarantined. They will be constantly checked for the 14 days and will have to return two negative tests before being allowed to go home.
Meanwhile, the government has extended the island wide curfew, which would have ended on Wednesday. It has now been extended to May 13 as the country continues to observe measures aimed at containing the virus’s spread.
The 12-hour curfew had come into effect on April 1 and Prime Minister Andrew Holness, announced the extension.
These include the stay-at-home order for people 70 years and over; the ten-person limit on public gatherings; physical distancing of six feet; the mandatory wearing of masks in the public space and the duty of employers to provide transportation for exempted workers for the curfew hours.
Holness noted that most of the deaths related to COVID-19 in the country involved people 65 years and over with underlying conditions.
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