Don’t drop ball on COVID, says tourism exec - Ann Chen calls for Westmoreland residents to persevere with virus caution

WESTERN BUREAU:

Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) Negril Chapter chair, Ann Chen, is pleading with residents of Westmoreland not to lose courage or succumb to “COVID fatigue” as recent scientific developments signal that an end to the pandemic is near.

Her calls for perseverance come in light of an increase in COVID hospitalisations and deaths and a 32.1 per cent positivity rate recorded last week in the parish. Up to December 21, Westmoreland recorded 628 coronavirus cases out of more than 12,300.

Speaking after the launch of the chapter’s COVID-19 Ambassadors Programme at her Sandy Haven Resort recently, Chen said it was timely and crucial, as some communities appear to be buckling under the pandemic.

The Westmoreland Health Department has cited Negril, Little London, Grange Hill and several other neighbouring communities as worst affected. Prime Minister Andrew Holness was forced to impose extended curfew hours on the parish as a result.

SEVERELY IMPACTED

“I believe that our communities are suffering from COVID fatigue. It’s been going on for such a long time that everyone is feeling the pain of being under management in this way and their lives being locked down, being severely impacted and not being able to live in the way that they are used to. So things are going slightly awry,” Chen said.

“This is a great opportunity for us to reverb them and to say to our community that the protocols are still very necessary; COVID is still very much around us. But we are almost near the solution. We’ve got the vaccine and we are just around the corner, so don’t let go. This is not the time to drop the ball,” she added.

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett, who was guest speaker at the launch, described the programme as a very powerful move, especially in light of Westmoreland’s situation.

While acknowledging that parties and round robins have income streams associated with them, Bartlett said these can be put off for the moment as “that’s where the mega spread takes place, leading to the high infection rate in Westmoreland”.

Citing the cultural practices of transportation via bike taxis in Negril, with up to four pillion riders, he said within the context of COVID, this was inappropriate and not in alignment with the best virus management protocols. He said this needs to “be looked at seriously”, since the spread of COVID-19 cannot be curtailed, “if the mega-spreaders are at large”.

According to Bartlett, while the onslaught of the virus was “not going to be forever” its duration will be a result of how compliant communities are. He said while hotels were focusing on their properties and workers, the attention also has to be turned to their surrounding communities, in collaboration with the ministries of Health and Local Government, to mitigate against the need for any lockdown by the State.

“The extreme positions must not be what we apply if we are to balance health and well-being. So let’s not put ourselves to where we have to apply extreme measures. And the only way to make sure extreme measures are not resorted to is to follow the protocols to comply,” Bartlett said.

“We don’t want lockdown. Nobody wants lockdown, but the only way to save us from lockdown is to comply,” he stressed.

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com