Jamaica bans travel to and from China
Soon after the Jamaican
government signed an agreement
to increase trade with
China, health officials on the
Caribbean island imposed
sanctions prohibiting travel
between the two destinations
due to the alarm raised about
the coronavirus, which reportedly
was first detected in China’s
Wuhan province.
Already being described to
be of burgeoning pandemic
concern, Jamaica’s Ministry
of Health quickly moved to
ban travel to China and also
restrict tourists arriving from
the infected country.
The two governments
expressed delight on issues
related to improving economic
and technical cooperation with
provisions that the Chinese
would “provide grant funding
for the implementation of
mutually agreed projects.”
However, one year later with
global fears of a new virus originating
from Mainland China,
Jamaica boldly stopped flights
originating from the destination
as well any heading there.
Dr. Christopher Tufton, minister
of health explained that
the severity of the restriction
was necessary because Jamaica’s
size made it “particularly
vulnerable.”
“The virus offers a clear and
present danger,” Tufton said
last week. Adding that “the
consequences could be dire.”
In a message released after
a group of 19 Chinese tourists
were denied entry on arrival
to Kingston’s Norman Manley
International Airport, the minister
said quarantine protocols
were positioned and the tourists
were sent back.
“While the Latin American
and Caribbean region has not
yet reported any case of the
coronavirus, it is only logical
to assume that the virus is
likely to hit the region’s shores
at any moment now, considering
its current geographical
spread and trajectory,” Edmund
Bartlett, minister of tourism
added.
Although the island’s travel
and tourism industry could
Caribbean Life, F 14 ebruary 14-20, 2020
suffer an economic setback,
the ministers were united in
enforcing the ban as a precautionary
tactic.
Earlier in the week, Jamaican
Akara Goldson who has
been living in China since 2018
expressed fear for her life.
In a desperate phone call
posted on social media, Goldson
said “I don’t go outside
– I am even afraid to take out
my garbage. I am so scared
– Jamaica really needs to do
something.”
She implored her government
to help evacuate her and
other Jamaicans living there.
“We all want to leave (China)
because this is a death and life
situation.”
Her fearful and desperate
tone struck a chord with
diasporans here and in Jamaica
echoing pleas to the government
to rescue the student
based at the Anhui Agricultural
University.
Dr. Christopher Tufton, minister of Health, Kamina Johnson
Smith, Jamaica’s minister of Foreign Affairs and H.E. Tian
Qi, Chinese ambassador to Jamaica. jm.chineseembassy.org
There on scholarship she
expressed fear and hopelessness
and demanded to be rescued.
“We don’t want to stay in
China, we want to go home,
I am scared, I can’t sleep…
I feel trapped…there is no
food…people are scared…I am
afraid…” a traumatized-sounding
Goldson said.
Allegedly, there are hundreds
of Jamaican students in China,
all are begging to be rescued
from the desperate situation
Goldson described.
The health hazard caused by
the coronavirus demands that
everyone wears protective face
masks, which she said with
such a high demand are scarce
to purchase.
She also posted images of
empty food shelves in supermarkets.
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