The first 200 of the 1,044 Jamaican

ship workers disembarked the Royal Caribbean’s Adventure of the Seas, docked at

the Falmouth Pier in Trelawny, on Thursday, May 21.

The men and women underwent various

stages of screening and processing by the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship

Agency (PICA), and the Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA), after which

they were taken to the Bahia Principe Hotel in St Ann to await their test

results. The other workers will be processed in a similar manner.

Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr the

Hon. Christopher Tufton, who was on hand to greet the ship workers, noted that

the process went without delay and exceeded his expectations.

“We were able to process the 200

persons that we targeted for today very smoothly, on time and, indeed, within a

shorter time than we anticipated,” the Minister said.

“The planning was well executed and, as

a consequence, there is a possibility that we could speed the process up,” he

added.

Tufton outlined that if tests come back

with positive results of the coronavirus (COVID-19), those individuals will be

dealt with in the public health system, in isolation. However, for those who

test negative, they will be sent for home quarantine.