Jamaicans have been placed under a string of additional restrictions as the country grapples to curb its rapid spread of Covid-19.

The measures include three weekend lockdowns with a curfew from noon until 5am the following day.

At present the country has 35,338 cases on record, and has vaccinated over 24,000 people.

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said the number of cases were “unacceptably high”.

“Our rate of new hospitalizations is beyond our health system capacity. Our oxygen tanks are in short supply. We have more than doubled our bed capacity, however, the persons in need of treatment are growing much faster than we have the capacity to respond,” he revealed.

See the new measures as announced by Prime Minister Holness:

-From Tuesday, March 23 to Friday, March 26, the nightly curfew hours will remain at 8:00 pm to 5:00 am, ending at 5:00 am on Saturday, March 27.

-On Saturday, March 27, the curfew begins at 12:00 noon, to end at 5:00 am on Monday, March 29. There should be no movement on Sunday, March 28.

-On Friday, March 26, workplaces will be required to close at noon, except for essential services like medical establishments, supermarkets, wholesale stores, pharmacies, restaurants and other food establishments, which will remain open up to the regular curfew time at 8:00 pm. The closure gives workers time to stock up for the 12:00 noon curfew which starts on Saturday.

-From Monday, March 29 to Wednesday, March 31, the curfew returns to 8:00 pm to 5:00 am. On Thursday, April 1, Holy Thursday, workplaces will be required to close at noon, except for essential services. The closure gives workers time to stock up for the curfew which starts Thursday night at 8:00. There should be no movement on Good Friday. On Saturday, April 3, the curfew begins at noon, and continues Easter Sunday and Monday, to end at 5:00 am on April 6.

-On Tuesday, April 6, the curfew will commence at 8:00 pm nightly to 5:00 am the following morning ending at 5:00 am on Saturday, April 10.

-On Saturday, April 10, the curfew will begin at 12:00 noon and continue through the entire day on Sunday and end at 5:00 am on Monday, April 12. On Friday, April 9, workplaces will be required to close at 12:00 noon to facilitate people to conduct their shopping to prepare for the tighter weekend curfew.