Jamaican government urged not to accept UK deportees amid Covid spike

The Opposition Spokesman on Health and Wellness, Dr Morais Guy has shown alarm that the Government of Jamaica has allowed accepting over 50 deportees registered to arrive from the UK on Wednesday.

Morais Guy has shown to the fact that Jamaica has more than 10,000 COVID-19 positive cases and 256 deaths, with 17 persons dead in the last seven days alone. Guy said, “Jamaica is by no resources out of the woods where the control of COVID19 diseases are concerned.

The deportees are coming from the UK which is itself under lockdown as it tries to gain control of the high rate of diseases in its own jurisdiction. This is not the time to be welcoming deportees from the UK.”

The Opposition spokesman has further led out that the current data suggest that the most significant increase currently is in the parishes along the Resilient Corridor. He is concerned that there seems to be a positive correlation between persons coming from abroad and the increase in numbers.

The guy is also concerned whether or not this batch of deportees have all exhausted their due process and mitigatory options before being deported, and is therefore urging the government to pursue the highest diplomatic engagements to deter this flight.

If however, the government refuses to heed the warning of the Opposition to prevent the arrival of these persons, the Opposition is recommending the following measures.

1. All persons on the flight must come with certifications of testing and proof of a negative COVID 19 PCR test.
2. All persons so arrived must also be given a COVID 19 PCR test on arrival into Jamaica, irrespective of their pre-arrival tests being negative.
3. All persons arriving on the charter flight must be separated in a Government facility for at least two weeks before they are allowed to do the further immigration/National Security formalities.
4. Any person who within the two week quarantine period exhibit symptoms of COVID-19 must be isolated in a court facility until they have returned a negative test.
5. The Government of Jamaica must put in place all public health protocols to protect the various processing officers who come into contact with the arriving persons.
6. Guy insisted that the Government should allow discretion to be the better part of valour and act in the best interest of the Jamaican people.