Caribbean News
Jamaica imposes travel restrictions; Nat’l Statement on COVID-19 by Jamaica Health & Wellness Minister
#Jamaica – March 3, 2020 — FULL STATEMENT from MARCH 2, 2020: The new Coronavirus (COVID-19) has spread to more than 60 countries, fueling widespread anxiety, as many consider the implications for public health.
Here in Jamaica we understand that anxiety and wish to reassure the public that we are, even now, enhancing our readiness for the very real possibility of the virus coming to our shores.
Up to March 1, there were more than 87,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported globally and close to 3,000 deaths. Among those countries impacted are three from within the Caribbean, namely the Dominican Republic, St. Barts and St. Maarten.
So far, Jamaica has had no cases. However, we can accept, given the rate of spread, which has seen more than 30 new countries impacted in the last week alone, that Jamaica is not immune to COVID-19.
We can also accept that it is not beyond our capacity to respond and to do so effectively, in the public health interest. Such has been our history in the face of other global disease outbreaks, including H1N1, SARS and Ebola.
Against this background, Jamaica’s assault on COVID-19, for which robust and ongoing public support is critical, is happening on two fronts:
- Actions to minimize the risk of exposure among the local population; and
- Actions to enhance the capacity of the public health system to manage patients in the event that we have cases.
On MINIMISING EXPOSURE, we have, through collaboration with a wide cross-section of stakeholders from the public and private sectors,and through the adoption of a whole-of-government approach:
- Imposed travel restrictions to include five countries, among them China, Italy, South Korea, Singapore, and Iran.
- Discouraged non-essential travel.
- Are patrolling irregular border crossings.
- Sensitized key personnel at all air and sea ports.
- Designated FOUR (4) quarantine facilities.
- And identified and are retrofitting isolation facilities in each of the island’s public hospitals.
On our HEALTH SYSTEM’S READINESS, we have:
- Developed the local capacity to test for the virus, thanks to training provided by the Pan-American Health Organization.
- Assessed the readiness of our health facilities to meet the anticipated increase in demand on services.
- Are addressing existing gaps, including with respect of additional supplies and equipment, though, at the present time, we have enough personal protective equipment in the island for our health facilities. We also have adequate stores of respiratory medicine for the next three months.
- In addition, we have trained and continue to train health care providers.
These efforts are supported by a communications campaign to keep each member of the population updated on the virus and its impacts. Oversight is provided by the multi-sectoral National Disaster Risk Management Council – led by Prime Minister Andrew Holness – to which the Ministry of Health and Wellness will present a detailed response plan for approval.
Still, the success of our efforts depends on the extent to which stakeholders from the private and public sectors and indeed every individual who calls Jamaica home understand that they each have a role to play to preserve public health. This week we will also appoint a COVID-19 coordinating taskforce.
We must, therefore, work together to maintain a high level of vigilance in our surveillance and response measures. It is also now more important than ever that each of us:
- Maintain a distance of at least 2 metres from persons who are coughing or sneezing.
- Frequently perform hand hygiene by washing hands thoroughly with soap and water or using a hand sanitizer if hands are not visibly soiled.
- Cover our mouths and noses with a tissue when coughing or sneezing, and then discarding it.
- And resist the habit to touch our faces.
Yes, COVID-19 is a disease that can cause death, but in the majority of cases, those affected by the virus survive. If we work together as a community, each of us doing our part, from prevention to care management, we can and will overcome this public health threat.
By Deandrea Hamilton | Magnetic Media
October 14, 2025 – It’s being called political theatre — but for citizens, constitutional watchdogs, and democracy advocates across the Caribbean, it feels far more serious. Within a single week, two national parliaments — in Trinidad and Tobago and St. Kitts and Nevis — descended into turmoil as opposition members stormed out in protest, accusing their Speakers of bias, overreach, and abuse of parliamentary procedure.
For observers, the walkouts signal a deeper problem: erosion of trust in the very institutions meant to safeguard democracy. When Speakers are viewed as political enforcers instead of neutral referees, parliaments stop functioning as chambers of debate and start performing as stages for power and spectacle — with citizens left wondering who, if anyone, is still accountable.
October 6: St. Kitts Parliament Erupts
The first walkout erupted in Basseterre on October 6, 2025, when Dr. Timothy Harris, former Prime Minister and now Opposition Leader,
led his team out of the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly in a protest that stunned the chamber.
The flashpoint came as the Speaker moved to approve more than three years’ worth of unratified parliamentary minutes in one sitting — covering 27 meetings and three national budgets — without individual review or debate.
Dr. Harris called the move “a flagrant breach of the Constitution and parliamentary tradition,” warning that the practice undermines transparency and accountability. “No serious parliament can go years without approving a single set of minutes,” he said after exiting the chamber.
The Speaker defended the decision as administrative housekeeping, but critics were unconvinced, branding the move a “world record disgrace.” The opposition’s walkout triggered renewed calls for the Speaker’s resignation and sparked a wider public discussion about record-keeping, accountability, and respect for parliamentary norms in St. Kitts and Nevis.
October 10: Trinidad Opposition Follows Suit
Four days later, on October 10, 2025, the Opposition United National Congress (UNC) in Trinidad and Tobago staged its own walkout from the House of Representatives in Port of Spain.
The UNC accused the Speaker of partisan bias, claiming she had repeatedly blocked urgent questions, ignored points of order, and allowed government members to breach standing orders without consequence.
“The Speaker has failed in her duty to act impartially,” the Opposition declared in a statement. “Parliament is not the property of any political party or Presiding Officer.”
The dramatic exit was seen as a culmination of months of rising tension and frustration, with opposition MPs arguing that parliamentary rules were being selectively applied to silence dissenting voices.
Political analyst Dr. Marcia Ferdinand described the twin walkouts as “a warning sign that parliamentary democracy in the Caribbean is teetering on the edge of performative politics.”
“When chairs become political shields rather than constitutional referees,” she said, “democracy becomes theatre, not governance.”
A Pattern Emerging
While St. Kitts and Trinidad are very different political environments, both incidents point to the same regional fault line: the perception that Speakers — the guardians of parliamentary order — are no longer impartial.
In Westminster-style systems like those across the Caribbean, the Speaker’s authority depends not on power but on public confidence in fairness. Once that credibility erodes, parliamentary control collapses into confrontation.
Governance experts say the implications are serious: eroded trust between government and opposition, declining public confidence in state institutions, and growing voter cynicism that “rules” are flexible tools of political advantage.
Why It Matters
Parliamentary walkouts are not new in the Caribbean, but what makes these recent events different is their frequency and intensity — and
the regional echo they’ve created. Social media has amplified images of lawmakers storming out, with citizens from Barbados to Belize questioning whether the same erosion of decorum could be happening in their own legislatures.
Analysts warn that if this perception takes hold, it risks diminishing the moral authority of parliamentary democracy itself.
“Once opposition MPs believe the rules are rigged, and once citizens believe Parliament is just performance,” said one Caribbean governance researcher, “you’ve lost the most valuable currency in democracy — trust.”
Restoring Balance
Political reformers across the region are calling for tighter Standing Order enforcement, independent parliamentary service commissions, and training to strengthen Speaker neutrality. Civil society leaders say the public must also play its part by demanding transparency and refusing to normalize partisan manipulation of parliamentary procedure.
Whether these twin walkouts become catalysts for reform — or simply another episode of Caribbean political theatre — will depend on what happens next inside those chambers.
For now, democracy watchers agree on one thing: when opposition leaders feel the only way to be heard is to walk out, the entire democratic house — not just its Speaker — is in danger of collapse.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
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