KINGSTON, Jamaica — National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limited (NCB) has closed its Duke Street branch in downtown Kingston following the confirmation of a positive COVID-19 test for one of its employees.

“We took the decision to close the Duke Street branch because of the length of the exposure period, as well as the number of persons who were possibly exposed to the affected employee,” said Euton Cummings, general manager of human resources and facilities at NCB.

The bank said the affected employee was initially tested by the Ministry of Health and Wellness on August 28, 2020, and received a negative result. The affected employee was cleared to return to work on August 31, 2020. The employee was again contacted by the Ministry of Health and Wellness on September 4, 2020 and advised that their sample had returned a positive result when it was retested, the bank said.

NCB said it has now updated its protocol, requiring any employee who tested for COVID-19 to also receive results from a re-test, or second test before being cleared to return to work.

It explained that during the period between receiving the first negative result and the subsequent positive result, the affected employee had interacted with others in the branch. However, the bank said all employees who came in direct contact with the affected employee were immediately asked to self-isolate, and report their possible exposure to the Ministry of Health and Wellness. A deep-cleaning and sanitisation exercise was also conducted at the facility on the evening of September 4, 2020.

According to Cummings, while the bank has followed the established protocol so far as it relates to cleaning and sanitising the facility, it awaits further guidance from the ministry about testing and eventual re-opening of the branch, as well as contact tracing for others who may have been exposed.

“It is possible that persons in the branch may have been exposed to the affected employee,” Cummings said. “So we urge anyone who visited the branch between August 31 and September 7, 2020 to take appropriate precautions and to contact the Ministry of Health and Wellness for further instructions, as we continue to explore the extent of exposure.”

According to Cummings, “NCB continues to practise around-the-clock sanitisation of all locations, enforce mandatory mask-wearing by all employees and customers, installation of sanitisation stations and temperature checks. Except for customer-facing employees, all employees whose job functions can be performed remotely have been instructed and equipped to do so. We are committed to doing everything we can to help stop the spread of the virus, while still serving our customers in the safest ways possible.”

“For everyone’s safety, we are asking our customers to take advantage of our digital channels where possible, to minimise any possible exposure. If you must do cash-related transactions, please visit the iABMs in our 24/7 Bank on the Go locations instead of going into a branch. For everything else, we encourage you to use our Personal Online Banking and Business Online Banking platforms, our mobile app, or our mobile money option, Quisk,” Cummings continued.

The branch remains closed until further notice.