PNP concerned about new COVID strain; supports UK travel ban
KINGSTON, Jamaica — The People’s National Party is expressing concerns regarding the new “super spreading” strain of COVID-19 that is now affecting the United Kingdom (UK) and the possibility of transmission to Jamaica through international air travel.
There is growing concern that the new strain of the virus is more transmittable than the first, as many countries move to restrict travel from the UK.
In a statement today, Opposition spokesman on health and wellness Dr Morais Guy welcomed the Government’s decision to ban flights originating in the UK and to implement new protocols for passengers transiting through other jurisdictions from the UK.
However, the Opposition said it would be vigilant in ensuring that everyone observes the protocols and warned that it would hold the government accountable for the entry of the new strain of the virus into Jamaica.
In light of the surge in cases of the new strain of the virus, the Opposition urges the Government to review the UK travel database and track all persons who have entered the country within the last five days. Contact tracing and testing should be done with urgency, it added.
Guy noted that, already, some 30 European and other countries have implemented varying levels of a travel ban on the United Kingdom as a safeguard and it was advisable that Jamaica does the same.
He said that while Jamaicans visiting home is always a delightful and festive occasion, the presence of the COVID-19 pandemic has given enough reasons to be cautious in our celebration and to err on the side of safety.
The Opposition spokesman said the Jamaican health system is now undergoing severe stress with several hospitals near capacity and health staff currently managing over two thousand seven hundred active cases. Of those tested positive, seventy-seven are in hospital, with six listed as critically ill.
“Lives and livelihood have to be balanced in this COVID-19 era, and threats to our nationals must be approached with the seriousness it deserves based on data and evidence available to the Ministry through Jamaica’s international partners,” said Guy.
