MONTEGO BAY, St James — Entertainment industry players in western Jamaica are hailing the move by the Government to close nightclubs and ban public gatherings as a step in the right direction to curtail the spread of the dreaded novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The move has led to the postponement of several events and will see losses in revenue amounting to millions of dollars.

Steffan-Chad Haughton, a member of Antidote Entertainment, the organising body behind Solar Breakfast Party, which was slated for March 29, is among those supporting the ban.

“We are impressed by the level of communication and the amount of information that have been provided by the government. With the rise in cases and as a preventative measure, we welcome the move by the government. The circumstances now are unfortunate, but the safety of our patrons is paramount,” Chad- Haughton argued.

“We pride ourselves on caring about the general well-being of our community as our event is charity-based and funds are earmarked for Cornwall Regional Hospital, so it would be remiss of us to have our patrons in harm’s way.”

Promoter and Rehab Sports Bar owner, Andre Dyer, also expressed satisfaction with the measures initiated by the government, but argued that some amount of relaxation could have been extended to nightclubs.

“It’s not exactly what we wanted, but we have to work with it. I think we could have been given a little more time and the same restriction of no more than 20 persons extended to nightclubs as well. Our All Pisces Born party was set for last Saturday and that had to be postponed. As it stands now, we are at a wait-and-see juncture, and if all goes back to normal, we will make some adjustments and have a later staging,” Dyer explained.

Promoter and DJ Neil “Crazy Neil” Barnes posited that the move could have been averted if the government had acted sooner.

“While I’m in agreement with the current measures in light of the situation as it is now, I believe we could have avoided being at this point now if the government had closed the borders at the onset, and that would have allowed us to move around freely,” he argued.

“From entertainers, DJs, bartenders to nightclub owners, we are going to lose some money, but it’s best to just stop it all for a short period of time to guarantee the safety of all.”

Prime Minister Andrew Holness earlier this week, ordered the closure of bars and nightclubs and the gathering of not more than 20 persons in a space, among other measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Last week, the prime minister requested that approvals of permits granted for entertainment events to be staged within the next 14 days be withdrawn.

Mayor of Falmouth and chairman of the Trelawny Municipal Corporation (TMC), Colin Gager, in addressing the regular monthly meeting of the corporation last Thursday, disclosed that the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has forced the cancellation of several entertainment events that were scheduled to be staged in the parish over the next two weeks and beyond.

He added that the corporation had approved some 52 events scheduled for between March and July. He noted, however, that the municipality has cancelled all the events which fall within 14 days of the announcement made on March 11. He also outlined that the municipality will be adopting a wait-and-see attitude to determine the outcome of the other planned events, up to July, for which approvals were granted.

Several entertainment outfits also took to their social media platforms to inform patrons of the postponement of planned events, and urged patrons to follow the guidelines laid out by the government.

The Seashli Entertainment Group, promoters of Different Strokes Retro Party, which was slated for March 28 in Negril, through an Instagram post, implored patrons to remain vigilant and play their part in keeping the outbreak at a minimum, and follow any and all advisories issued by the ministry of health.

The producers of Thrill… ‘The ultimate Beach Vibes’ party featuring Spice, which was scheduled for March 28 at Burwood Beach in Trelawny, also took to their Instagram page to inform of the postponement of the event and give assurance of the validity of tickets whenever a new date is set.