Jamaica no longer on ‘Avoid Travel’ list

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett has welcomed news that the United States of America's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has removed Jamaica from its Level 4 'Avoid Travel to this Destination' risk assessment.

"This is a very positive development. I want to commend our health authorities and the people of Jamaica for working to bring down the rates of COVID-19 infections and hospitalisations, which augurs well for our risk assessment rankings," Bartlett said.

Jamaica is now ranked at Level 3, which urges US travellers to be fully vaccinated before travelling. Despite CDC risk assessments, Americans by and large continue to travel to destinations they want to visit.

Delano Seiveright, senior adviser and strategist in the Ministry of Tourism, said that the previous Level 4 ranking caused jitters in some circles. He said the improved ranking "will be most helpful in our current and very aggressive efforts to boost tourist arrivals from all our markets".

The number of COVID-19 cases continue to decrease on the island. According to the Ministry of Health and Wellness, the country recorded 47 cases of the virus on Monday. The positivity rate was 7.7 per cent.