Jamaica introduces strict measure to fight COVID-19 outbreak in the country


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Novel coronavirus first discovered in Wuhan, China was first registered on the 31st of December 2019. Since then, the virus has spread all over the world and has infected more than one million people all across the world. The COVID-19 is one of the most contagious respiratory viruses known to man.

The virus has already impacted the lives of thousands of people and multiple industries. The World Health Organization (WHO) announced the COVID-19 virus as a pandemic on the 13th of March. Since then, many countries have gone into lockdown and have announced massive quarantines.

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Local authorities and governments are encouraging people to stay home in order to at least somehow assist in slowing down the spread of the virus. The outbreak is severe and has left its footprint on the lives of thousands and millions of people. The industries, businesses, and entities have been stopped for an uncertain period of time.

While we all are in this together, some countries have different approaches towards the crisis than the others. While Sweden has not changed much in the daily life of the country and citizens, Jamaica has recently introduced strict quarantine and curfew. The approach may vary due to many reasons. One of the themes can be the economic state of the country as well.

Businesses to shut down in Jamaica

Jamaican government introduced some strict quarantine measures to the society in order to fight the pandemic and extremely rapid spread of the very contagious COVID-19 virus. The government took the decision to shut down all of the non-essential businesses for uncertain time for now. The decision has been announced by the Prime Minister, Most Hon. Andrew Holness. The announcement was made on Monday on the 16th of March at Jamaica House.

The only businesses to still operate within the country are the essential businesses. Those include the pharmacies, corner shops, groceries, and supermarkets. Even while these places are still open, the amount of people allowed to be in the same venue is set to 20. Moreover, those 20 people are required to follow strict social distancing rules, which is at least one meter. This is essential to prevent further infections. The shops and pharmacies were asked to control the social distancing discipline. The society also was warned that if the requirements are not followed, the government should implement stricter measures. The corner shops are open only from 6 AM to 2 PM in the afternoon.

All of the non-essential businesses such as bars, clubs, restaurants, and even casinos were forced to shut down due to the safety and security measures. Mr. Hon also addressed the owners of the non-essential businesses and asked them for patience and for assistance, which is all about social responsibility and shutting down until the situation is more or less controlled.

While bars and restaurants are closed, many of them will be struggling very hard in order to come back to life after the crisis. Though, the casinos found a better option and have switched to the online casinos instead. Switching the business online is actually one of the most beneficial moves to do at the moment. Many real money online casinos have already witnessed the increased number of players and thus, are operating very successfully in the online market. Many other businesses that have the potential to go online or at least switch to the delivery services are also encouraged to do so, in order to make the crisis relatively bearable from the financial point of view.

Markets

While the shops are opened and the government urges owners to be very careful and attentive towards fulfilling the safety and security measures, some of the open markets remain open in the country. The closure of the open-air markets can lead to the literal stagnation of the economy, which will hit the country’s economy.

Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Desmond McKenzie made an announcement regarding the new regulations. He urged the society to follow the guidelines and accept and conform to the government’s measures in place. He stressed on the importance of fulfilment of the measures to the public health. During his speech, McKenzie also mentioned that, if people are unable to behave in a proper way, practice the social distance and simply disobey, the government will be forced to shut down the open market.

Closure of the market will be a great financial hit for many locals, as it has been one of the major sources of income for many citizens. Thus, in order to avoid severe measures and simultaneously be safe. Jamaicans will need to take social responsibility and follow social distancing at first!

The whole world is together today and while we all are in this together, every person is responsible for committing in the fight against the COVID-19 virus pandemic. This is something we will be very thankful and proud of in the nearest future.

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