ST JAMES, Jamaica — A declaration in the USA that COVID-19 is transitioning from a pandemic to a more manageable endemic disease, has been met with enthusiasm by senior advisor and strategist in Jamaica’s Tourism Ministry,Delano Seiveright.

America is the largest source of visitors to the country.

“Jamaica absolutely welcomes this news. The United States is our largest source market. The fact is that they have just around two thirds of their population vaccinated. Also a significant number of their population is believed to have acquired natural immunity. So this is good news. The world is moving away from the travel restrictions. Jamaica, of course, did away with ours in recent days and weeks,” Seiveright said.

“Beyond that, many Caribbean countries, European countries, United Kingdom and even Canada have moved away from the very stringent travel restrictions that existed before. We are also optimistic that these simpler requirements will serve to increase the appeal of Jamaica as a premier destination and keep us moving along the road to a stronger recovery for both the tourism sector and the nation’s economy as a whole,” he added.

He was reacting to comments made by Anthony Fauci, the chief medical adviser to US president Joe Biden.

“We’re really in a transitional phase, from a deceleration of the numbers into hopefully a more controlled phase and endemicity,” Fauci told the Washington Post on Wednesday.

Safety guidelines put in place for a pandemic are far more stringent than the approach taken to a disease that is endemic.

After two years of health protocols implemented to control the spread of the novel coronavirus, the Government of Jamaica lifted all measures under the Disaster Risk Management Act on March 18. Jamaica also previously rolled back travel-related quarantine requirements and the mandated use of the Travel Authorisation Form for entry.

On Tuesday, the World Health Organization announced that the global death toll had fallen to its lowest level since March 2020, but cautioned that several countries have slowed down their testing efforts, which makes it difficult to track the virus’ impact and next steps. China and several countries in Europe have also seen recent spikes in infections.

Seiveright is urging more Jamaicans to get vaccinated.

“Again, though, we’ll continue to encourage the people of Jamaica to get vaccinated and to take the necessary precautions, especially for those who are at higher risk, to ensure that they take personal responsibility for their own health in this time as we continue to work through the COVID-19 issues that still exist,” the tourism strategist urged.

– Horace Hines