A comprehensive cleaning and sanitising exercise was carried out yesterday at the Golden Age Home in Vineyard Town, Kingston, by the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development.

Similar exercises were carried out at infirmaries in St Mary, Clarendon and Trelawny.

Speaking with JIS News at the home in Vineyard Town, where several agencies participated in the activity, Minister of Local Government and Community Development Desmond McKenzie said the cleaning will make the residents “much more secure”.

The minister ordered the cleaning of the Golden Age Home and infirmaries across the island as a protective measure against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

“The cleaning today is just one of the features. Each institution will employ temporary workers for two months. Their job is to do additional cleaning of the facilities every day,” McKenzie said yesterday, adding that some 120 temporary workers will participate in the exercise, which can last for three months, once the need exists.

He pointed out that the emergency outreach to more than 50,000 of the nation’s indigents and homeless people was intensified on March 29, where more than 2,000 street people were fed with breakfast and dinner, and it will continue over the ensuing weeks.

“We have started to ensure that we do as much as we can to protect the residents who fall under the care of the Government in the various institutions,” he said.

The cleaning exercise across the island is being done through collaboration with municipal corporations, Jamaica Fire Brigade, Jamaica Defence Force, National Solid Waste Management Authority, and the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management.