Bartlett welcomes Germany's 'low risk' COVID categorisation of Jamaica
Published:Saturday | May 22, 2021 | 3:01 PM
Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett has welcomed the official announcement by Germany that it no longer considers Jamaica a risk area for contracting COVID-19.
Germany's decision becomes effective tomorrow.
In a release, Bartlett said the decision should result in the resumption of flights between Germany and Jamaica starting in July.
“I was very happy to learn that the Government of Germany has removed Jamaica from its list of countries with a particularly high risk of infection due to widespread occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 virus and its variants,” said Bartlett who is currently on government business in Europe. The release from the Ministry of Tourism said he is engaging multiple international tourism interests, senior government officials and should call on the King and Queen of Spain.
“This is a positive development, as it shows Germans that we are indeed a safe destination and our efforts to contain the virus have been effective. In fact, our resilience corridor for our visitors remains safe, with very very low incidents of positive cases,” he added.
In the same release, senior adviser and strategist in the tourism ministry, Delano Seiveright said major airlines have committed to resuming flights to Jamaica in coming weeks and months.
“Germany is our second largest market in Europe and Frankfurt is a massive and important European hub. So we are very happy about this announcement and we are equally pleased to note that we will have the re-start of twice-weekly flights, starting July, between Germany and Jamaica by Condor Airlines” said Seiveright.
He also said airlines, Eurowings, is also expected to commence regular service starting in November between Frankfurt and Montego Bay.
"The Jamaica Tourist Board has been working non-stop despite all the crises brought on by the pandemic", Seiveright said.
Reaffirming Jamaica's stringent health and safety protocols, he reminded persons that, “everyone must present a negative COVID-19 test result, in order to be granted entry to Jamaica." Beyond that, "it is heartening to know that most Germans will be fully vaccinated by summer."
According to the latest reports from the German Health Ministry, the release stated, 11.3 million Germans are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and 33 million people have received a first dose, representing 40 per cent of the population.
Before the end of the summer, all Germans should have been offered a vaccine.
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