Adjusted Curfews – The government has adjusted the island-wide nightly curfew measures for parishes outside of Kingston and St. Andrew, St. Catherine, Clarendon, and St. Thomas.
Effective Thursday, August 27, 2020, the nightly curfews in these parishes will be adjusted from 11 PM to begin at 9 PM, and end at 5 AM until September 30, 2020.
The parishes of Kingston and St. Andrew, St. Catherine, Clarendon, and St. Thomas are currently on a nightly curfew from 7 PM to 5 AM that ends on September 2, 2020, at 5 am. Thereafter, the curfew time will begin at 9 PM and end at 5 AM consistent with the other parishes in Jamaica.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness made the announcement last night at a digital press conference to update the nation on the recent decisions on COVID-19 made by Cabinet.
In addition to curfew adjustment, the government has implemented other measures that will take effect on Thursday, August 27, 2020.
- Church funeral services will be prohibited island-wide.
- Burials will be permitted with 15 persons, including ten (10) mourners, and the next five (5) will be the officiating clergy, the funeral officials, and the persons preparing the graveside.
- Funeral processions will only include the hearse and the mourners.
- Churches will be prohibited from hosting conventions and other special events that promote large gatherings.
- Parties will be prohibited.
Congregants are reminded that gatherings of more than 20 persons are not allowed outside the place of worship.
In that regard, Prime Minister Holness noted that there is a link between the spike in the COVID-19 cases to church conventions, funerals, parties, and gathering above 20 persons.
Moreover, the Prime Minister also discouraged persons from having physical interaction with persons outside their household.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Holness noted that the revised date for the phased reopening of schools on October 5, 2020, was set to allow the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information time to secure more tablets and other resources to facilitate the integration of technology.
According to Prime Minister Holness, persons will be required to, as much as possible, remain at home which means staying within the confines of the property outside of curfew hours.
“Since these areas will not be under quarantine, residents in these communities will be allowed to leave home, go to work, to obtain food and medical supplies, access medical services, and conduct businesses and financial transactions. However, if you are going to go out for no good reason, if you are going to go and loiter on the corner, or hang out on the corner, or just walk about without a purpose, you will be required, in these defined communities, to stay inside or return to your abode,” said Prime Minister Holness.
The communities with the defined boundaries will be released shortly.
In the meantime, Prime Minister Holness urged all Jamaicans to follow the Infection Prevention and Control measures by wearing masks, sanitizing, and physical/social distancing to maintain their lives and livelihoods as the government implements measures to control COVID-19.
