Jamaica Ramping Up COVID-19 Testing Capacity

Jamaica is ramping up its efforts to provide testing capacity to visitors following the introduction of new requirements in a number of the destinations key source markets, including Canada, the US and the UK.

Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett will lead a special task force that will spearhead efforts to boost Jamaica’s COVID-19 testing capacity.

Members of the task force that Bartlett will lead include:

• President of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), Clifton Reader
• First Vice President of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) and former President of the JHTA, Nicola Madden-Greig
• Chairman of the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo), Ian Dear
• Deputy Chairman of the Sandals Group and Chairman of the Tourism Linkages Network Council, Adam Stewart
• Executive Director of Chukka Caribbean Adventures and Chairman of the COVID-19 resilient corridor management team, John Byles
• Senior Advisor and Strategist in the Ministry of Tourism, Delano Seiveright

The move comes as Minister Bartlett revealed that urgent steps are being taken to ramp up Jamaica’s COVID-19 testing capacity, in light of changes in testing requirements by the United States, which is the country’s largest tourism source markets.

Minister Bartlett said: “This task force will work along with the Ministry of Health and Wellness and tourism stakeholders, both within the public and private sectors, to boost Jamaica’s capacity to facilitate wide scale COVID-19 testing for visitors to the island. We will also undertake extensive consultation with our local and international tourism partners to develop and introduce innovative solutions to effectively address this challenge.”

He also expressed confidence in the collaborative approach that Jamaica is taking. Said the Minister: “This unified approach has proven to be very effective in managing the pandemic to date, and has been crucial to our success in introducing our COVID-19 Health and Safety Protocols that have been endorsed by the World Travel and Tourism Council, as well as our COVID-Resilient Corridors. I am therefore confident that working in collaboration with our stakeholders, we will be successful.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued an order requiring all airline passengers from international destinations to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test before boarding flights to the US. The new order is slated to take effect on Jan. 26, 2021.

This follows the introduction of a similar COVID-19 test requirement by Canada and the UK, which requires all passengers flying to these countries to present negative test results in order to facilitate entry or avoid self-quarantine.