KINGSTON, Jamaica — There has been a further relaxation of the COVID-19 measures that are in place to limit the spread of the coronavirus on the island with the nightly curfew now set to run from 11:00 pm until 5:00 am.

The new curfew hours come into effect Friday, February 11, 2022. The previous curfew ran from 10:00 pm until 5:00 am.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness made the announcement Thursday as he addressed the first sitting of the 2022/23 parliamentary year.

The other major change involves worship services.

Whereas churches were previously allowed a maximum of 100 worshippers, that number will now be determined by the size of the worship hall divided by 36 square feet.

Holness said all other measures will remain in place until February 24.

He noted that the indicators were all moving in the right direction with falling infections as well as falling positivity and r-naught rates.

The prime minister also signalled that the measures under the Disaster Risk Management Act will soon come to an end and that the measures could be further relaxed soon.

However, he said he was mindful of Jamaica’s low vaccination rate which is around 23 per cent of the population fully vaccinated and the possibility for new variants to emerge.