Postpone Again or Travel ?

Hello,
How is the current situation in Negril regarding COVID ?

We are scheduled to visit on Jan 12, but omicron numbers in the US are increasing exponentially. We are considering postponing our trip ... again. We have postponed and rescheduled 3 times already. Has Omicron hit Jamaica yet ? It appears to be more contagious , yet less severe, especially for those vaccinated. We have had our 2 shots, and the booster.

Do those down in Negril believe the current curfew will remain in place until Jan 14 , or will additional measures be put in place ?

We are currently leaning towards traveling, but we would prefer to not be sick with covid on our vacation, and we don't want to bring the virus with us, and we don't want to catch it in Negril.

Thanks

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Originally Posted by pberman123

Hello,
How is the current situation in Negril regarding COVID ?

We are scheduled to visit on Jan 12, but omicron numbers in the US are increasing exponentially. We are considering postponing our trip ... again. We have postponed and rescheduled 3 times already. Has Omicron hit Jamaica yet ? It appears to be more contagious , yet less severe, especially for those vaccinated. We have had our 2 shots, and the booster.

Do those down in Negril believe the current curfew will remain in place until Jan 14 , or will additional measures be put in place ?

We are currently leaning towards traveling, but we would prefer to not be sick with covid on our vacation, and we don't want to bring the virus with us, and we don't want to catch it in Negril.

Thanks

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Most in Negril and the island as a whole expect no tightening of the curfew and a possible lessening, and possible changes to the quarantine rules which are being discussed at the WHO.

As we discussed here almost a month ago now, due to Omicron variant's increased speed of infection (transmission) and it being less severe (less hospitalizations) the 14 day quarantine rule may be reduced.

Omicron seems to come on much faster, 3 days as opposed to a week while also passing faster, leaving its communicable time to be less.

"Expert" discussions around our sorrell and overproof filled post-Christmas dinner conversations led to the conclusion of a ten day quarantine with near daily antigen tests to check for a negative result. It was a highly debated session... thank you JB!

Some basic facts as of this morning, a week ago the percentage testing positive was sub 10%, Christmas Day was nearly 11%. There is no proof that Omicron is on the island. A traveler who tested negative here after a very short stay ended up testing positive for Omicron back home in the UK. As I stated there is no proof, but that doesn't mean that it is not on the island.

The number of people in a hospital for Covid has gone down since the 20th, from 97 to 85.

So, while case percentages are slightly higher, the hospitalizations are slightly lower.

I wouldn't make any plan changes yet, if Omicron is here we should know it before the new year. Should that be the case, then we can expect information from the government that should help in your decision.

Rob , thanks very much.

We will wait until after Jan 1, and make a decision at that time.

cheers !