Stakeholders appeal for discipline amid COVID-19 fears

Gareth Davis Snr, Gleaner Writer 

Tourism industry stakeholders in Portland and St Mary are appealing to residents not to become complacent during the festive season amid concerns about a possible fourth wave of COVID-19 in Jamaica.

The appeal comes against the background that a traveller from Jamaica to the United Kingdom returned a positive test result for the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

The traveller was in the island on a short-term stay at a local resort.

Since the revelation was made by Health Minister, Dr Christopher Tufton, on Wednesday, there have been calls from stakeholders and other interests urging residents to adhere to prevention protocols such as mask-wearing, physical distancing, and hand-sanitising.

Among those making the calls is John Byles, Chairman of the COVID-19 Resilient Corridors Committee, who pointed out that COVID-19 does not discriminate.

Byles said that it is necessary for persons to play their part to stem the spread of the virus, which he said has claimed the lives of thousands of Jamaicans and forced the shutdown of the tourism sector for an extended period.

“This is about discipline versus indiscipline of economic groups’ compliance to protocols and the practicality of activity being reconfigured to allow for compliance to the protocols. It is very important to us as a people to ensure that we remain focus in the fight against this dreaded disease, and what better way to do so than to observe the basic protocols,” Byles told The Gleaner.

And Mayor of Port Maria, Richard Creary, also added his voice by stating that from his personal observation, he has seen where some persons have simply dropped their guard and are not following the protocols, while others have become engaged in partying with no evidence of social distancing.

“We cannot afford a shutdown of the sectors at this time, as many have lost their jobs during this pandemic,” said Creary.

“Persons have stopped wearing their mask and have let their guard down. Not because the case numbers are down, it doesn’t mean that COVID-19 is not around. And with a new variant as well that spreads even more rapidly, we just need to be extremely careful and try and avoid large crowds, “he warned.

Since news broke about the positive Omicron case, a wave of fear has emerged among Portlanders, who have called for the police to clamp down on illegal parties and other activities to help stem the spread of COVID-19.

Meanwhile, immediate past president of the Jamaica Union of Travellers Association (JUTA) Portland Chapter, Neville Green, is urging calm among residents.

He is also appealing for persons to follow prevention protocols.

“I’m calling for all players in the industry including craft vendors, raft captains, hotel workers, and other stakeholders to play it safe and observe the protocols,” said Green.

“We were hard-hit by COVID-19 and the numbers skyrocketed. Now that the numbers have trended now significantly, we cannot afford to take things for granted. It is therefore the responsibility of every resident, not just tourism workers, to remain disciplined and to observe the basic protocols. We cannot allow things to get out of hand, and we certainly cannot afford another lockdown,” he concluded. 

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