KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Health Dr Christopher Tufton says other European countries may be added to the list of restricted travel locations, based on their high number of COVID-19 cases.

These include Germany and Spain. Italy is already on the list of countries for which travel restrictions are in place.

Dr Tufton noted that the restricted travel list may be adjusted from time to time as needed. Factors considered include the number of cases, cases per population, and number of deaths.

A decision on the revised list may come as early as today.

The minister added that the restricted travel list may eventually become less important if there is a local case of COVID-19, as the emphasis would then be on containing the imported case to prevent it from spreading.

Last month Dr Tufton said travel restrictions – which were previously in place for China – were expanded to include Italy, South Korea, Singapore and Iran, as the coronavirus continued to spread outside of China.