It has been reported that Jamaica has announced revised rules for entry to the island. Jamaica began its initial phase of reopening to international travellers on the 15th of June and the rules varied according to each incoming visitor’s point of origin.
Jamaica revises entry rules
It has been reported that Jamaica has announced revised rules for entry to the island. Jamaica began its initial phase of reopening to international travellers on the 15th of June and the rules varied according to each incoming visitor’s point of origin.
Jamaican residents and visitors are required to complete and submit a Travel Authorization application online prior to arrival. If a passenger does not have a Travel Authorization, airlines won’t allow them to check-in or board the aircraft.
The Jamaican health authorities have designated what they see as ‘high-risk areas’. Residents of these regions are required to pre-test for COVID-19 no more than ten days prior to their intended arrival in Jamaica and upload a certificate showing a negative COVID-19 PCR test result, as part of the Travel Authorization application process. Travellers will also be required to present the original document upon arrival in Jamaica. However, business travellers and visitors under 12 years of age are considered exempt from this requirement.
Visitors exhibiting symptoms or belonging to certain high-risk groups, may need to undergo a COVID-19 PCR test upon arrival, even though they may have previously presented as negative for the virus. Subsequently, they would be required to quarantine in their hotel room for up to 48 hours until the new test result was known.
Travellers arriving from the designated ‘low-risk areas’ will not be required to pre-test or provide results prior to landing, but will be subject to screening procedures upon arrival in Jamaica. Again, those visitors in high-risk groups or displaying symptoms may be required to undergo a COVID-19 PCR test at the airport or other authorised facility and await their results in quarantine in their hotel room.
Visitors from low-risk areas who clear the airport health checks may proceed with their visit as long as they remain within the so-called ‘Resilient Corridor’. This is a zone that runs from Negril all the way along the coast to Portland and is a facet of Jamaica’s “‘Stay in Zone’ measure.
If a visitor from a high-risk area plans to stay at a location outside the Resilient Corridor, they will be required to pre-test. However, those not required to pre-test, but considered to be high-risk upon arrival at the airport, will need to undergo the COVID-19 PCR test and await the results at their hotel or named address.
Business travellers are not required to pre-test but will be tested upon arrival at the airport and will be required to await the test results under quarantine at their hotel or declared address.
All residents and visitors to Jamaica are required to observe all of the measures declared in the ‘Stay in Zone’ order during their time in the country. This includes guidance on sanitising protocols, hygiene, social distancing and the wearing of masks.
Anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 will need to self-isolate either at their hotel or declared address or in a government facility determined by the Jamaican health authorities. It should be noted that the only accommodations currently allowed to accept guests are those situated on the beach side of the main thoroughfare from Negril to Portland, and those in the Kingston Business District. Only properties that have received the ‘COVID-19 Compliant Certificate’ are permitted to take in guests, a list of which is updated daily at visitjamaica.com.
Recently, in a change in response to the high numbers of infections in certain states of America, the Prime Minister of Jamaica announced that all non-business travellers, aged 12 and above, coming from Arizona, New York, Florida and Texas will be required to upload proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR test result provided by a College of American Pathologists (CAP) accredited laboratory, within ten days of their intended arrival in Jamaica. This is a revision that will take place for travellers from the US from the 15th of July, extending to at least the 31st.
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