Jamaica Imposes Travel Ban on Trinidad and Tobago

To prevent the entry of the South African variant of the coronavirus, Jamaica will prohibit the entry of all visitors from Trinidad and Tobago.

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The Jamaican government has also an extended list of countries that are restricted for travel. Among them are Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, and Peru where the Brazilian variant has been found.

On Monday, Trinidad’s Prime Minister Keith Rowley announced the new ban on his country during a press conference. 

“Yesterday, the Prime Minister of Jamaica gave me the courtesy of informing me that sometime today, Jamaica would put Trinidad and Tobago on a restriction list of countries from which persons cannot travel, because of our acknowledgment that we had the P1 variant here.”

As of May 5, Trinidad has recorded 11,706 COVID-19 cases and 185 deaths. There have been 8,832 recoveries and 2,689 total active cases. 

Trinidad’s Epidemiologist Avery Hinds cautioned that if the country continues recording new COVID-19 infections at this rate the nation may see a surplus of 10,000 active cases by May 22.

Health MInistry's Acting Principal Medical Officer Maryam Abdool-Richards reported that the number of people discharged is approximately six out of every 100 patients. She disclosed that around 14 percent of COVID-19 patients currently require hospitalization.