Last Updated on August 6, 2020, 9:01 PM AST by Anthony Morris
Jamaica has kept Barbados and other Caribbean nations within its travel bubble despite a resurgence of the COVID-19 in some of the countries.
Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett disclosed this after Barbados kicked Jamaica and several other islands out of its reduced travel bubble, as part of measures to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus in the country.
Barbados has cut down its list to just five nations.
Bartlett said that he does not know what the prerequisites are for being in that bubble and that Barbados is a partner. Still, Jamaica recognises that all of the countries are managing the pandemic and are having varying levels of success.
He added that Jamaica’s success compares with the top performers of the world. On a per-capita basis, Costa Rica and Jamaica are among the top in the world and way ahead of Barbados and other countries in the region.
He said that he was not sure as to what that scenario would be but, Jamaica and Barbados are partners and Jamaica keeps the Caribbean in its bubble and Barbados is one of those nations.
He noted that the Caribbean region is ranked among the most COVID-resilient regions in the entire world.
Bartlett said that Jamaica has been reaping successes since the country reopened its borders to international visitors.
The Minister added that there had been a few challenges.
He said further that he thinks that all of the countries in the region have the same problem of their nationals coming back home. They are on high-risk in terms of the community spread; he thinks that all of the countries are seeing it.
He said that The Bahamas saw it, Barbados saw it a couple of days ago and all the countries are managing carefully because when the nationals come home, they can not stay within the corridors which have been established for the tourists.
Bartlett added that according to him, one of the ways by which Jamaica was able to manage the visitors, is the making of the COVID-19 resilient corridor which is located on the north coast and that is where the visitors and tourists go.
Bartlett said that the measures which have been put in place and implemented for the protection of COVID-resilient corridor’s sanctity.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
