Beginning Monday, January 25, the parish of Manchester will be under enhanced COVID-19 measures for a period of two weeks ending Monday, February 8, 2021.
Manchester has seen a rapid increase in cases, with 125 new cases between January 10 and 24. In addition, the cases are spread across the parish with over 30 communities affected. The parish of Manchester accounts for 11.3% of all confirmed COVID-19 cases in the last two weeks and presently 5.3% of the total confirmed cases ever for the country are in the parish. The positivity rate for the parish has been the highest in the last two weeks (27.8%) and it is three times the national positivity rate (10.8%). As it relates to death per population, Manchester is ranked 9th.
There is non-compliance to infection prevention and control measures, as many persons are not wearing masks and there is more crowding and gatherings taking place.
The health team in parish has reported an increase in the number of persons presenting with symptoms of COVID-19 at health centres and hospital. Contacts of these persons are also found to be positive, when contact tracing is carried out. There is also an increase in hospitalization of persons in the parish with respiratory illnesses.
Therefore in keeping with the Disaster Risk Management Act (Enforcement Measure), the curfew hours for Manchester will begin at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, January 25 and end at 5:00 a.m. on Monday, February 8, 2021, with persons allowed to move about between 5:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. each day. During the period, gatherings in a public place should not exceed 10 persons and markets and vending in public arcades and public transportation centres are only allowed during the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.
Additionally, between January 25 and February 8, 2021, public transportation authorized by the Transport Authority Act will be allowed to operate between 4:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. with no passengers being transported between the hours of 4:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.
Jamaicans are again reminded that they must take personal responsibility to protect themselves, their loved ones, their communities and the country. The pandemic is not over and Jamaicans must continue to strictly observe all the infection prevention and control protocols including maintaining a physical distance of at least six feet from each other, staying at home, avoiding crowds, frequently washing and sanitising hands and cleaning of surfaces, wearing masks and obeying quarantine and isolation orders as given by the public health authorities.