MONTEGO BAY, St James — Spanish hotel chain RIU Resorts yesterday announced the closure of three of its Jamaican properties, effective tomorrow, blaming it on the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

“The decision has been to close the RIU Negril, RIU Montego Bay and RIU Palace Jamaica hotels,” the company said a release last night.

“The RIU Ocho Rios, Palace Tropical Bay and RIU Reggae will remain open to attend to our guests who are here or will arrive on the island,” added the release.

The hotel chain said it has created a “crisis cabinet” to deal with further decisions, indicating that the move to close some properties temporarily was due to lower occupancy because of the travel restrictions caused by COVID-19.

“We are facing an unprecedented situation that requires us to take exceptional measures. Our business model, based on hotel ownership and direct management of our operations, allows us to have the agility to take the actions required by the current situation,” RIU said.