There was very little movement of people and motor vehicles in Albion, St Thomas, yesterday afternoon.
But that, according to one resident, Rory Brown, is not unusual for the community whose residents awoke yesterday morning to find out that it was under a COVID-19 quarantine.
“This community is kinda quiet. People who live here just come in and go out to work,” Brown told the Jamaica Observer, adding that he was surprised by the implementation of the measure which prevents residents from leaving the community.
Early yesterday morning, the Ministry of Health and Wellness announced in a news release that Albion and Seaforth had been added to the other communities in St Thomas under quarantine. According to the ministry, 13 cases of COVID-19 were detected in Albion and Seaforth over the last three weeks.
The ministry said quarantine period, which began at 5:00 am yesterday, will run for 14 days, ending Thursday, September 3.
The other communities in the parish where the safety measure was implemented — Bamboo River, Church Corner and Lower Summit — will remain under quarantine until September 2.
According to the ministry, test results received show that 107 people have been identified as being positive for COVID-19 in the parish. Forty-five of that number are within the quarantine areas.
Brown said while the quarantine had caught him off guard, he was basically fine with it.
“I guess I’m cool for now; it’s just the first day. I just sent my brother to go get some food. I teach, so I’m not really going anywhere today,” he said.
Another resident, whose name the Observer could not ascertain, said he had no problem with the quarantine.
“Were trying to make do as best as we can. We understand the need for the virus to be contained and for people to respect the protocols and do what is necessary to ensure that we don’t have further spread,” the man said after receiving a bag of groceries from a relative who lives outside the community.
“Normally, I would have my groceries at this time of the month so I’m just stocking up at least a month’s worth of food,” he said.
However, another resident, who gave her name only as Kadeisha, was not as understanding.
“Right now mi jus’ feel traumatised because mi jus’ wake up to all a dem suppen here. Mi neva get no notification, no nutten, and yuh know seh a nuh everybody have it weh dem can store food and dem suppen deh, and wi jus’ lock down, down here so. So mi kinda feel a likkle way,” she said after collecting a bag of groceries from a friend.
The measure, she said, made her feel even worse as she is unable to see the body of her father, who died on Monday and she was unlikely to be able to attend the funeral of her aunt scheduled for this Sunday.
“Mi haffi try fi manage, even though mi no waan manage,” she said.
