The taking of COVID-19 samples by the Ministry of Health and Wellness from Jamaican ship workers who arrived in the island on Tuesday is to go on break on Saturday.

The Ministry’s public relations officer, Mexine Bisasor-Bryan, told The Gleaner that the move is to allow for time to process the hundreds of samples that have already been taken, noting that the exercise will resume on Sunday.

" Four hundred samples were taken over two days and sent for testing. When those results are returned and hopefully no positive, then rooms at the hotel will become available," she said.

The 1,044 Jamaican workers were repatriated aboard Royal Caribbean's Adventures of the Seas cruise ship on Tuesday afternoon and remains docked at the Falmouth cruise ship pier in Trelawny.

The first batch of workers disembarked from the vessel on Thursday.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Prime Minister Andrew Holness explained that the Jamaicans will disembark in groups of 200 every 48-72 hours and taken to Bahia Principe hotel in St Ann.

Holness said ship workers who test positive will go into state quarantine while those who test negative will be allowed to quarantine at home for 14 days.

Persons in home quarantine will have their location tracked and must do a video check-in multiple times a day, Holness said.

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