Rae Town Residents Confused About Curfew

Residents in Rae Town, in Kingston say they are confused, after being declared a COVID-19 hotspot by the Ministry of Health.

The community has since been placed on a special curfew for two weeks which came into effect on Friday. However, they question the absence of Health officials in the community to conduct testing to further limit any spread of the virus.

Rae Town residents say they woke up to unusual Police and Military presence on Saturday morning.

When CVM LIVE visited the area, there were only barricades, shifted to the side, seemingly to allow for vehicular traffic.

Our news team understands that the increased security presence is only visible  during the curfew hours. 

Prime Minister Andrew Holness declared Rae Town as an area for a special area curfew, following an alarming number of active COVID-19 cases. But the residents disagree.

Last week, the Ministry of Health listed 20 communities across the country as COVID- Hotspots.

Rae Town was listed in the top three.

According to the Ministry, as at October 14, the community recorded 25 COVID cases, 20 of them are active.

The residents says since the curfew, they have not seen any Health Officials or representatives from the Ministry of Health to conduct testing.

In the meantime, Member of Parliament, Donovan Williams is urging residents to abide by the orders. Under the guidelines, only essential workers are allowed outside of the 6pm to 5am curfew hours, social gatherings are limited to six people and masks must be worn at all times.

Jamaila Maitland reports: