Virus fears resurface at MoBay market

WESTERN BUREAU:

MONTEGO BAY Mayor Homer Davis invoked a popular Jamaican expression – “all those who can’t hear will feel” – as he vowed to clamp down on vendors and shoppers who continue to breach COVID-19 protocols at the Charles Gordon Market in the Second City.

There have been renewed concerns that some health and safety protocols introduced to stem the spread of the deadly coronavirus are being ignored at the market. As such, the mayor said that discussions were under way to determine how to arrest the situation.

“... We are looking at [directives] that vendors and persons who enter the market must wear their masks, and that is something that the commercial manager and myself have been discussing and which will be implemented shortly,” said Davis, who chairs the St James Municipal Corporation.

Citing the popular phrase, Davis said: “COVID-19 is real. It is not a joke, and it is not something that anyone should take lightly. It is an international pandemic of extraordinary proportions, and as a result of that, persons must take the necessary precautions.”

In the initial stages of the pandemic, Davis suggested that the Government might have to use a “big stick” approach to drive compliance.

At the time, the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry warned that the market could emerge as the epicentre for a coronavirus outbreak in western Jamaica.

In the meantime, Errol Greene, regional director of the Western Regional Health Authority, said that steps would be taken by the local health authorities to reduce breaches.