Current JTB Press Release and some confusion

Where to start…..

Jamaica is doing its best to try and act as one government with one voice, but sometimes not everyone gets the memo.

I had a short conference session with some of the JTB last night, it was 8pm on a Saturday so they are working well after normal business hours. It seems on Friday, a PR firm hired by the JTB, Finn Partners, put out a Press Release stating that visitors “must adhere to the Stay in Zone order, which requires persons to remain at their hotel or resort within the Resilient Corridor for the duration of their stay.” This is somewhat ambiguous as the Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism have repeatedly stated that the stay in zone order means just that, stay in the Covid Resilient Corridor, the entire corridor. I don’t know for sure how that order changed or just the wording added, but it could easily be due to the number of infections being detected on incoming arrivals from the US. Out of the 6 new cases reported yesterday, 4 came from the US. The Ministry of Health may be directing this order, which is well within their powers to protect the country.

The JTB officials I spoke with still maintain that the stay in zone means stay in zone, but the press release was on the JTB letterhead, so as of the Friday press release, I would recommend that all visitors stay on their property for the time being. I am hoping we will find out more when the offices open on Monday as the confusion is helping no one, but with the attractions to soon open, this all might be a moot exercise. The wording would have to change drastically to allow visitors to attend the attractions.

In all this confusion, this presents major problems for certified properties that have no dining facilities, of which many have been approved and are accepting guests.

TDPCo, Tourism Product Development Co., is the entity in charge of certifying the properties, attractions, restaurants, bars, etc. There are a tremendous number of places to certify, so they are doing their best to get their job accomplished.

The Ministry of Health’s number one job is to protect the health of everyone on Jamaican soil, residents and visitors alike. The number of Covid deaths has remained at 10 for a couple months, so they are doing the best they can to accomplish that goal.

The Ministry of Tourism is in charge of making Jamaica the premier destination in the Caribbean. They have been implementing fluid guidelines to fit the needs as they arise. There is no COVID-19 manual, so they are doing the best job they can to accomplish a nearly impossible job.

There is a bit of damned if you do, damned if you don’t scenario happening here, with each agency trying their best but not all the direct goals are the same. The end goal is the same, but the individual goals are not.

Which brings us to the Prime Minister who is in the unenviable job of balancing the health of the people with the economy of the country. So far he seems to be doing a great job with that balancing act.

This is a highly complex undertaking with many different goals and points of view. And we should be hearing more very shortly which will hopefully end the confusion.

Thanks, Rob, for keeping us up to date with the ever changing situation in Jamaica. Helen and I have a few months yet before our winter reach; so, I'm pretty sure that things might change a few more times in the interim. We will watch on your website for future updates. In the meantime, I hope that everyone visiting behaves so that all in Jamaica are safe from this pandemic. WM

Why would they be opening corridors and now attractions If you have to stay on resort? Doesn’t make sense. Tanks for the update, though. Hopefully a wording error and not a scale back.

Rob, how is it known that four were from America? . would they have developed symptoms and gotten tested once there?

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Originally Posted by original spanky

Rob, how is it known that four were from America? . would they have developed symptoms and gotten tested once there?

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They were tested here. Showing symptoms WILL get you tested, but some are tested based on the screening.

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Originally Posted by Barb111

Why would they be opening corridors and now attractions If you have to stay on resort? Doesn’t make sense. Tanks for the update, though. Hopefully a wording error and not a scale back.

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Exactly, it doesn't make sense.

Rob you said "Out of the 6 new cases reported yesterday, 4 came from the US." This should not a surprise as historically more than 2/3 of tourists traveling to Jamaica are from USA.

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Originally Posted by Captain Oil

Rob you said "Out of the 6 new cases reported yesterday, 4 came from the US." This should not a surprise as historically more than 2/3 of tourists traveling to Jamaica are from USA.

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The other two are under investigation, to see where they contracted the cases locally. Today's numbers are 16 case, 14 imported from flights from the US, and two from contact with people who came from the US....

Rob,
Are these cases tourist related or Nationals returning home?

They don't generally release that info. Medical test results, even Covid, are considered confidential. Here is the wording from the Observer:

"The new cases consist of 10 females and six males, ranging in age from two to 56 years. The cases were recorded in St Ann (two), Clarendon (one), St Catherine (three), Westmoreland (two), St James (four), Manchester (two), Portland (one) and Kingston and St Andrew (one).

Fourteen cases are imported, all of whom arrived on flights from the United States. Two have since repatriated. The two other new cases are contacts of imported cases."

At least two are visitors as they have already been repatriated. Which two? No way to know.

Most Jamaican nationals who were stranded in the States have been repatriated as well. Jamaicans coming to the island now generally live in the US or share time between the two countries. They come as visitors, not returnees.

The reason I am only mentioning the US is that up til now, the US has been the only country with tourist flights to Jamaica. From the Minister of Tourism:

"Right now, all of the visitors who come to Jamaica in this first phase are from the US. This week will be the first flight coming in from the UK. If we should put a ban on the US, the effect of it would be to shut down the industry.”

Has this been clarified any further in regard to stay in zone vs stay on resort?
https://www.jtbonline.org/wp-content...e-Visitors.pdf

So Rob, I'm even more confused now and it appears to be just the wording in the document. This is what it says; – must adhere to the Stay in Zone order, which
requires persons to remain at their hotel or resort within the Resilient Corridor for the duration of
their stay.
If I am a low risk and staying at a certified hotel, can I move about the resilient corridor or not? The way the JTB document reads is that you have to stay at your hotel. I believe the document should read ...remain at their hotel or resort or within the resilient corridor. The way the document is worded right now, why have a resilient corridor if everyone has to stay in their hotel or resort.

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Originally Posted by Barb111

Has this been clarified any further in regard to stay in zone vs stay on resort?
https://www.jtbonline.org/wp-content...e-Visitors.pdf

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No, and we we had a meeting of the Chamber yesterday with a representative of TDPCo and things actually became less clear. The rep from TDPCo was claiming that ALL tourists needed to quarantine for two weeks. That was met by confused disbelief. Someone has something obviously wrong.

It is was pointed out that TPDCo was certifying places that have no dining capabilities, they are certifying tour operators, restaurants and bars and we received no real answer to the logical discrepancies. They said that they would look into it and get back to us.

Possibly the rep from TDPCo read the following. The last thing directly from Minister of Health about this was posted last Thursday:

"Returning Residents and Visitors* to Jamaica MUST remain in quarantine at home for minimum of 14 days. Residents and visitors are NOT permitted to leave home to attend to business, funerals or weddings before the end of the 14 days.If the Quarantine Order is violated , you can be taken into State quarantine and/or be charged. Protect yourself…while protecting others. Stop the spread of COVID-19.

* This does not apply to business tourists or tourists staying on the resilient corridors."



And it does not make any mention of tourists staying on property in the resilient corridors, just those ON the resilient corridor....

The hoteliers as a whole said that they are not going to act as the police, and if a guest strolls 200 yards down the beach, are they breaking the law?

Clear as mud....

Truly confusing stories. A guest who had a split stay between 2 hotels in the corridor was told they would be denied entrance (at immigration) if they left their first resort. They had to call Couples and have their stay changed to one resort.

Please correct me if I'm wrong or missing something. Tourists are advised to go to the visitjamaica.com site for info and travel authorization? But if you read under the section for vacationers staying in hotels,villas, or guesthouses , then while you are there, it's number 1 description that's throwing everyone off in it's wording ? But underneath this the section of Explanation of terms, it clearly defines both Resilient Corridor as well as Stay in Zone , both clearly express a similar directive and that's visitors , persons are to stay or remain within the Resilient Corridor. That's it. And also under this same section it clearly explains Quarantine classified persons must stay on property , it doesn't say anything about "low risk" persons staying on property. By my reading if you are deemed to pass thru as low risk it pretty much says as long as your following sanitation , social distancing , and mask wearing protocols you are good to go thru out the corridor?

This is what is confusing..

If on arrival you are assessed as low risk, you are able to move freely within the hotel/resort while observing all sanitization, social distancing and mask wearing protocols as dictated by the Stay In Zone order.
If on arrival you are assessed as high risk and was tested, you will be placed in quarantine at the hotel for up to 48 hours while awaiting the test result.
What if the result is positive? If the result of your test is positive, you will be placed in isolation either at the hotel/resort or in a government facility as determined by the health authorities.
What if the result is negative? If the result of your test is Negative, you will be required to stay on property within the Resilient Corridor observing all sanitization, social distancing and mask wearing protocols
Plus this grphic:Attachment 55172

And....guests are being told not to leave their hotels and asked to sign an electronic document attesting they will remain on resort.

Not trying to be hard headed and definitely not trying to be one of those pesky "arrogant" Americans , but I'm pretty clear on how I read it and have seen plenty of pic's & videos of tourist moving about in Negril that are recent.

I understand your interpretation. But.....tourists are being told not to leave their resorts and asked to sign an agreement not to do so at the airport. This is the confusion....

Somewhat of an update on the guest who was told they could not split their stay between 2 resorts. Hotel management called PM’s office and was told it is stay in zone, not on resort. SMH.

Yes, the PM, to my knowledge, has always stated stay in Zone, not stay in your property.

It is too bad about all the confusion. The guest had to cancel one of their reservations on the spot. Wish they would make a statement clarifying. SMH.