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.