KINGSTON, Jamaica — Cabinet has given approval for a Royal Caribbean cruise ship transporting 1,044 Jamaicans to dock in Falmouth, Trelawny, at noon on Tuesday, May 19, Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, announced at digital press conference at Jamaica House on Monday, May 18. The Adventure of the Seas vessel at the time was located off the coast of Haiti.
“From the 21st of April, the Government of Jamaica wrote to the Royal Caribbean cruise line expressing our willingness to explore the possibilities for the repatriation of Jamaican ship workers. Since then, we have been exchanging communications about how and when this repatriation would be done,” Mr. Holness said, according to a Jamaica Information Services (JIS) press release.
Noting that the approval was given on Monday with specific protocols regarding the re-entry of the ship, Prime Minister Holness said, “They will follow through the necessary maritime regulations to ensure the safe docking of the ship in Falmouth.”
The Government, through the Ministry of Health and Wellness, said it would “create a sterile area around the port to conduct testing for the coronavirus (COVID-19).”
Mr. Holness said that the cruise-ship workers will be disembarked in groups of 200 every 48 to 72 hours and after testing, they will be taken to the Bahia Principe Grand Jamaica hotel in St. Ann, where the Government has secured 400 additional rooms.
The 48 to 72-hour period is to allow time for the test results to be made available. Those who test positive for the virus will be taken to a State quarantine facility, and some crew members with negative results, will be allowed to self-quarantine at home for 14 days from the day they disembark the vessel.
For home quarantine, individuals will be “required to consent to have their location geofenced via the JamCOVID19 website and to do video check-in multiple times daily,” the press release stated.
Mr. Holness said the ship will repatriate the largest batch of Jamaicans to date.
