Bank of Jamaica temporarily closes after possible exposure to COVID-19

The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) has temporarily closed its main building in downtown Kingston, after a possible exposure to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

According to the central bank,  the decision comes “merely out of an abundance of caution, as no BOJ staff member has tested positive for COVID-19 at this time."

The BOJ said its premises, however, "may have been compromised by someone who may have been exposed to the virus".

The Bank also said, “With this knowledge, in the interest of our staff and the general public, we have therefore moved to quickly close our building temporarily to carry out deep cleaning and sanitization work."

Therefore, the BOJ will not be offering teller and coin exchange services until further advised.

The bank is recommending that for coin exchange, the public utilises the services of GraceKennedy Payment Services at their locations island.

For the exchange of foreign currencies and other banking services, the public should rely on their commercial banks or other deposit-taking entities.

In the meantime, critical systems which support transactions in the financial markets will continue to operate, the central bank said.

The bank said it regrets any inconvenience that these temporary changes may cause, and is encouraging its staff, customers and stakeholders to continue to take the necessary steps to remain safe.

“We will continue to monitor the situation and will provide updates as necessary,” it added.