Govt Has Been Strategic In COVID-19 Response And Management – PM

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, says that the Government has been strategic in its coronavirus (COVID-19) response and management measures.

He said that the focus is on balancing lives and livelihoods, noting that the measures will allow for a return to normalcy and economic recovery.

“We want to give the businesspeople, the small enterprises, the average Jamaican the certainty that we can emerge out of this pandemic,” the Prime Minister said while addressing the House of Representatives on January 25.

“The pandemic has created a great deal of uncertainty in our lives… . The measures that are in place, they are set at a particular point where they will allow for the controlled return to normalcy, but they are still there to protect us if there were to be an extreme or unpredicted event,” he pointed out.

The Prime Minister reiterated that the Government has no intention of going into lockdown mode.

“We are moving forward with our economy, we [are] not locking it back down again. We are maintaining the guard rail because we know any card can play with this virus. New strains can emerge so we have the guard rail there, but it can’t be that at the first sign of every new variant, the first reaction is that we have to shut down the economy; that cannot be the case,” he said.

He continued to urge Jamaicans to act responsibly, wear their mask properly, wash or sanitise hands, maintain physical distance, strengthen their immune system [through proper diet and exercise, and get vaccinated.

The COVID-19 containment measures have been extended for two weeks until February 10.