Starting in November, Visitors to Jamaica will be required to pay a mandatory health insurance fee of $40.
Jamaica Cares cover Illnesses (coronavirus included) and natural disasters such as hurricane while on the island. It will cover the cost of case management, transport logistics, field rescue, evacuation, and repatriation for medical emergencies up to $50,000 on the island or $100,000 if you are traveling.
The Program will be launched by the Global Tourism Resilience Crisis Management Centre. Jamaica is the first country to facilitate a partnership for a comprehensive end-to-end pandemic safety response. The aim of the program is to give confidence to travelers when they’re ready to travel for vacation.
"Jamaica Cares delivers an unmet need in the travel industry by providing primary medical coverage and medical evacuation services," says Hon. Edmund Bartlett, co-chairman of Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre. "The traveler knows they’re protected, and they know other travelers are, too. That’s what’s needed to give confidence to travelers when they are ready to travel.”
Visitors will receive an information packet and emergency contact details as they complete their Travel Authorization application, a document now required prior to arrival.
If an emergency medical situation occurs, Global Rescue will support Jamaican authorities in executing established emergency action plans including: access to case management, transport logistics, evacuation and repatriation for any medical emergency, including COVID-19, and monitoring from diagnosis through repatriation.
The country officially reopened to tourists on June 15, but with COVID safety precautions in place- such as temperature checks, negative COVID-19 test results, and a completed Travel Authorization application.
Jamaica, like much of the world, has suffered tremendous fallout because of the coronavirus pandemic. The country's hotels, which were closed in March when the virus was detected on the island, reopened but have struggled to get above the 50 percent occupancy level.
Jamaica has reported a total of 8,652 cases of COVID-19 and 184 deaths, according to data from the Ministry of Health. More than 1,100 of the cases were reported during the last two weeks but cases of the virus haven’t been reported among visitors or workers.
The CDC has placed a Level 3 warning against nonessential travel to Jamaica, saying that the COVID-19 risk is high.