ANDREW HOLNESS PRIME MINISTER
As a child, I so look forward to Christmas, and I am certain that many Jamaican children are looking forward to Christmas, to grand market, to the toys, and the gifts that they will get. They look forward to seeing their relatives, their grandparents, to the family gatherings, but this Christmas season we will not be able to celebrate as we usually do. We will celebrate, however, the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
We will, together as families, reflect on the Christmas season and on the past year and put our prayers and hope towards a better 2021.
The year 2020 has been difficult for us; however, we have worked very hard and in many instances we have overcome and we have been successful.
As we celebrate during this pandemic, though muted, let us remember that there is still much for which to give God thanks and still much work to be done.
This Christmas, I want to acknowledge and thank our public health workers and front-line responders who have dedicated their lives to keeping us safe. They continue to do an outstanding job in extremely difficult and trying circumstances heightened by the pandemic. We owe them a debt of gratitude.
With significant breakthroughs in treatment, testing, and vaccines, giving us hope and optimism, we should not become complacent.
In the meantime, we must continue to be vigilant and compliant. The virus is not taking a break for Christmas.
This Christmas, I strongly recommend that we stay at home with our family members and immediate household. Let us use our creativity to make the new normal of seeing our relatives and friends online or by telephone a special occasion.
For those who have recently travelled, please observe strictly the quarantine restrictions and keep away from vulnerable groups, particularly your elderly family members and people with comorbidities.
Let us not drop the baton this Christmas on what is, hopefully, the last leg of this long ordeal. We are a resilient people and I have absolute confidence that we will overcome.
On behalf of the entire Government, and from my family to yours, I wish you a peaceful and reflective season.
God bless Jamaica.