30 people now permitted at funerals
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Funeral services can now be permitted with a maximum of 30 people in attendance including the mourners and clergy, effective July 1.
Speaking in Parliament today while making the announcement, Prime Minister Andrew Holness said: “I think 30 is a reasonable number. We will have ODPEM (Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management) doing spot checks to see how it is being followed.”
“As I said earlier, some Churches have 200 people there and they say ‘we’ll compensate by ensuring everybody wear masks’, nothing like that. Please observe the protocols,” he stressed.
The prime minister noted that for burials, the maximum number of people who may be present at the graveside has been increased from 15 to 30. This, he said, includes mourners as well as officiating clergy, grave diggers and undertakers.
Burials are permitted only from Mondays to Fridays, however, as of July 1 burials can be done between 9:00 am and 5:00 am, increased by one hour.
Meanwhile, the prime minister said the work-from-home measures will remain in place until the country has secured enough vaccines to resume in-person operations.