Get vaccinated, Grange urges partygoers
Published:Friday | May 20, 2022 | 12:06 AMAinsworth Morris/Gleaner Writer
With a fifth wave of the coronavirus confirmed in the island, Olivia Grange, Jamaica’s minister of culture, gender, entertainment and sport, shied away from any talk of a shutdown of the entertainment industry.
For nearly two years, party promoters suffered billions of dollars in losses, from a shutdown of the industry. The Government started imposing regulations under the Disaster Risk Management Act (DRMA) in March 2020, which prevented parties and carnival events to be held in the island.
With the industry now booming again and the infectious rates also increasing, Grange warns persons associated with parties to protect themselves.
OBSERVE THE PROTOCOLS
“I just want to encourage everyone to sanitise, to wear their masks, to keep their distance as much as they can. It’s a difficult period but once they observe the protocols it will minimise infections. That’s as much as I can say at this time,” Grange told The Gleaner Wednesday.
She also encouraged persons to get vaccinated as well.
“The best thing that the entertainment industry can do to help themselves is to get vaccinated; the persons who practise in the sector and the people who go to have the fun, go and get vaccinated,” Grange said.
She was speaking after unveiling the Aggie Bernard Bust at the Workers’ Monument which is located on the grounds of the Kingston Craft Market in downtown Kingston.
Bernard was a committed activist in Jamaica’s labour movement. She is considered a heroine of the historic 1938 waterfront strike in Kingston as she committed the meagre wages she earned as a laundress to purchase food and provide refreshments for approximately 200 men during the two-week strike.
In May 2021, during Workers Week, Grange promised to complete the monument as one of Jamaica’s legacy projects, leading up to the country’s 60 years of Independence celebration.