Cabinet Resumes Face-To-Face Meetings

The Cabinet of Jamaica officially resumed in-person meetings on Monday (October 11) after approximately 10 months of convening remotely.

As part of the protocol for the return to face-to-face meetings, Cabinet members presented their coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination cards for inspection by protocol staff of the Office of the Prime Minister.

In his remarks at the start of this session, Prime Minister, the Most Andrew Holness, said that “the Government has to lead the country towards normality and to live with the virus and the disease that it causes”.

“The way to do it is for every Jamaican to take the option of getting vaccinated. The way to do it is for every Jamaican to comply with the infection, prevention and control measures that have been established, which will eventually be relaxed the higher the level of vaccination,” he said.

He noted that for those who choose not to take that option, “the requirement would still be in place for testing, in particular, in critical missions and situations where we have to gather, have to meet in person and we need a high level of guarantee that each person

in the room or in the space is safe and would not potentially cause a spread or outbreak”.

The Prime Minister said that even though online facilities are useful, they cannot replace the effectiveness of meeting in person.

“Online has its challenges [regarding] reliability of the Internet. Much is lost in communication online, as we don’t get to see body language, so if we are having that challenge of meeting online with Cabinet, can you imagine the challenge that our children are having trying to learn online?” he questioned.

“We must return our children to school. Again, the way to do it is to have our children and our teachers vaccinated, so that they can return to face-to-face,” he pointed out.

The infection prevention and control measures include proper mask-wearing, maintaining physical distance from others, sanitising, staying home if ill with respiratory or flu-like illnesses, and observing the protocols as it relates to no movement and curfews.

“But there is another option, and that option is to get vaccinated, and the country will be directed as to how we will transition to the new normal of living with the COVID-19 disease,” the Prime Minister said.