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Airline and cruise-ship visitors to Jamaica may be required to present medical certificates of a negative COVID-19 test in order to enter the island when the country reopens its borders for tourism.
The medical certificate, which should be no older than 76 hours, is among a number of proposed protocols now on the table for implementation.
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/l...covid-passport
Quote:
Originally Posted by TuffGong
There is still much major and fine tuning being discussed before implementing formal procedures. The first draft was very interesting. The key take away from what is being discussed is that the Ministry is being "tasked with fine-tuning the strategies that must comport with international travel and tourism standards."
Unless there is a vaccination for COVID-19, having any medical certificates 76 hours or shorter would be no indication as you could get it on the way to the airport and be asymptomatic and undetectable upon arrival.Quote:
Originally Posted by TuffGong
Until there is a vaccination for COVID-19, all guarantees are off the table.
Exactly!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Accompong
They mention that in the article.
Getting tested is simply a snapshot in time. You can catch the virus 10 minutes after you get tested. Testing really doesn’t indicate or mean much of anything. And the difficulty of getting testing would prevent most people from getting testing and it’s certificate prior to flying to Jamaica. So after making hotel reservations and flight reservations it may be impossible to get a certificate within the 76 hour timeframe
Common sense went out the window 2 months ago. We have flu vaccines and every year 70,000 die from the flu in the US. What makes anyone think that a covid vaccine would do any better?
Could not agree more.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lax1724
You're saying that 70,000 people that have taken the flu vaccine die every year, wow, that's harsh.
I’m not sure what point you are making. 70,000 Flu deaths with a vaccine and covid19 US deaths stand at 85,000 with the nation (and the world) shut down. Without the shutdown we could be in the millions. People must wake up to the fact this is not the flu!!
That 70,000 number is actually only an estimate using algorhythms. The actual counts show the numbers are well below 70,000.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lax1724
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com...es-to-oranges/
From that link: When reports about the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 began circulating earlier this year and questions were being raised about how the illness it causes, COVID-19, compared to the flu, it occurred to me that, in four years of emergency medicine residency and over three and a half years as an attending physician, I had almost never seen anyone die of the flu. I could only remember one tragic pediatric case.
Based on the CDC numbers though, I should have seen many, many more. In 2018, over 46,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses. Over 36,500 died in traffic accidents. Nearly 40,000 died from gun violence. I see those deaths all the time. Was I alone in noticing this discrepancy?
They are estimates that the CDC produces by multiplying the number of flu death counts reported by various coefficients produced through complicated algorithms. These coefficients are based on assumptions of how many cases, hospitalizations, and deaths they believe went unreported. In the last six flu seasons, the CDC’s reported number of actual confirmed flu deaths—that is, counting flu deaths the way we are currently counting deaths from the coronavirus—has ranged from 3,448 to 15,620, which far lower than the numbers commonly repeated by public officials and even public health experts. In fact, in the fine print, the CDC’s flu numbers also include pneumonia deaths.
A COVID Passport is a really stupid idea.
Must be a Ganja moment
Requiring at "COVID passport" will eliminate 90% of the tourists from coming to Jamaica. We tourists cannot get tests to begin with unless we are symptomatic. And even those who get tested PRIOR to getting on that aircraft have no guarantee that they will be COVID free once they land in Jamaica. We can get infected anytime after getting tested, in the 72 hours before leaving, in the airport, on the plane etc.
So, the only real way for Jamaica to even come close to controlling the infection is to have tests ready at the incoming airports and test EVERYONE coming in on flights. They could take the passengers info as to where they are staying and notify them as soon as positive results are returned and instruct them on next steps (isolation etc). It's not ideal as an infected tourist could be spreading the virus while in JA, but with social distancing and requirements to wear masks when out in public as much as possible would reduce the spread rate as much as possible.
Of course they would also have to disinfect passengers and luggage upon entry.
this COVID-19 passport thingy has been beaten to death online for two months now....not going to work anytime soon......nuff said
do the temp check thingy and ask some questions and get the tourists to their hotels...period
Cool Runnings, Marko
There are many countries in the world that require PROOF of vaccinations against all viruses (small pox, chicken pox, measles, SARS, MERS, etc...) before you are allowed in the country. No proof no entry.
Everyone knows vaccinations are not 100% effective, but they are better than nothing. The idea of a 'clean test passport" is not 100% perfect either but it is better than nothing.
I agree with the vaccine proof but since there is no vaccine your can not get vaccinated. The idea of requesting a negative test for the covid virus is ludicrous One can become infected minutes often testing.
I would disagree that a covid visa is a ganja induced idea. It is true that there is currently no vaccine and you could become infected 10 minutes after the test, or from sitting in a plane or standing for an hour in close contact waiting to get through customs. But we are heading into a new phase- what public health types call harm reduction.
Humans are social beasts. We miss and desire going to crowded bars or concerts or basketball games or churches or visiting grandkids/grandmas or meeting someone to fall in love with ( for a night or a lifetime). For me it's sadness at realizing it may be a long time before I can spend 6 hours on packed jets to get to Jamaica. Isolation can cause strong physical and psychological damage. That is why even in prisons, solitary confinement is usually reserved for the most despicable behaviors.
But it will be impossible to maintain social isolation forever. As we learned from failed experiments with combatting HIV and substance abuse - deeming some behaviors as shameful and demanding strict abstinence will fail, and only drive those behaviors underground. Since all humans from time to time do stupid and risky things (sometimes even chronicled in this forum) short of a cure/vaccine that can be quickly distributed to billions world wide, lessening the likelihood of infection is the short term goal. Covid pre boarding visas will cut down the risk of transmission- weeding out the non-symptomatic spreaders from getting on the plane - but not zeroing it out. Wearing masks, staying farther apart, no handshakes or fist bumps, avoiding crowded rooms filled with sneezing shouting or even breathing humans, and rapid spot quarantining will lessen the likely spread of contagion, making the outbreaks more manageable but still deadly.
I just looked at the Gleaner headline that stated that there were 2 new covid cases on an island of 3 million people, and a death toll of just over 100. I live in a hotspot- Connecticut (pop 3.6 million) We are seeing infections go down after 2 months of shutdown but still have almost 100 deaths a day. The union that represents nursing home workers in Connecticut, mostly women of Jamaican descent, has seen at least a dozen members die and hundreds infected. While the Jamaican economy would like my tourist dollars, I seriously doubt it would welcome an influx of Connecticut residents potentially carrying covid returning without some serious restrictions.
Wisconsin will likely prove in the next month that saying "lets party like its 2019" will be a disaster. Not picking on Wisconsinites- here in Connecticut tattoo parlors ( I mean I like tattoos but come on that's probably one of the least essential service there is) are demanding to be re-opened. We are all grappling with the new normal, where almost every aspect of our lives will need to be re-engineered in the coming months and years. It will require painful sacrifice and change.
Sorry if this post is long or a bummer. Lurking on Negril.com has always been a pleasant and needed diversion for me for the 51 weeks a year that I am away from Negril. Stay safe and I hope to be back in Negril someday soon.
Just to clarify, Jamaica's covid death toll is 9, not 100. We have has 121 recoveries out off some 524 cases total.
Being an island and being able to lock-down, test and isolate has been pretty successful. Opening up to visitors from countries where they have totally or mostly mismanaged their responses is a decision that can't be taken lightly.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob
I still find it hard to believe that borders will be fully open before November or later of this year.
JMO
Hi Rob - Thanks for the correction. I am glad your island has been spared the health crisis we face here in the tri-state area
Quote:
Originally Posted by Accompong
Food for thought.... why in the western parishes, where tourism has the largest percentage of workers and a huge influx of visitors and did not close the boarders until mid-March are there so few currently active cases?
Zero in Trelawny, 1 in St. James, zero in Hanover, zero in Westmoreland and zero in St. Elizabeth. People from all these parishes travel through the eastern island Covid hotspots every week heading to Kingston, yet no active cases?
With over 500 active cases island wide, what could be preventing the people in the western parishes not becoming sick with Covid?
Food for thought....
Any idea when final decisions are planned to be made? Its getting about the time for me to say yay or any on my trip.. fingers crossed it will be a yay
like mi said this COVID19 test thingy has been beaten to death online for over 2 months.....
and it won't work with this 96 hour thingy or 48 hour thingy...…
Why?
being in good health and not having any medical conditions or COVID19 Symptoms mi contacted
3 Florida Medical Clinics today that are doing COVID19 testing.....and mi Nurse Practitioner
realistically in a nutshell in Florida it takes a week to get the results back.....yeah some say 5-7 days.....
but mi Nurse Practitioner said to count on a week....cause all the labs are swamped.....
and nobody she knows is doing Rapid COVID19 testing in my local area.....
a health facility may have rapid testing in Florida but that's usually saved for people with underlying issues...it's not used right now for people in excellent health
so in Jamaica do the Temperature test thingy and have tourist fill out the forms and get dem to the resorts......period
any other way is will be a failure except for showing tests that were taken within 10 days.........but that defeats the purpose
if these foreign governments insist on these 96 hour thingy there won't be any tourist coming anytime soon since most can't get COVID19 tested fast enuff for foreign governments liking...true
Cool Runnings, Marko
My husband needed a medical procedure last Friday at one of Ohio’s largest hospitals. On Wednesday we traveled 2 hours for him to have the Swab test in the Basel cavity . His results were in 24 hours later.
If this all works out I and I will be there in February.
Bless
semi(and crew):) :)