Popcaan Declares Himself COVID-19 Free After Beenie Man’s Birthday Party

As COVID-19 concerns continue to plague Jamaica, the recent birthday bashes held by Jamaican celebrities Usain Bolt and the King of Dancehall Beenie Man, are now being scrutinized by the Jamaican government and some people.

One deejay who attended Beenie Man’s party, the Unruly Boss Popcaan, has declared himself COVID free and is also encouraging the population to wear masks.

Popcaan took to his Instagram yesterday to share a message about the concerns.  In the two photos shared, the Jamaican deejay is clad in black and repping for the crips in a navy blue jacket, which recent collaborator and American rapper Dave East took notice of in the comments.

“Me nuh have no covid 19🙄a must the glock 19..!!! wear unu mask!!! @theunrulyshop,” Popcaan said in one of his first posts since Beenie’s party on August 22.

It’s not clear whether the FIXTAPE singer has actually taken a test or if he’s just confident that his social distancing and mask game at the party was working for him.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CEPN0o3DBgm/

At least one person has already been negatively affected by Beenie Man’s party. His fiance, Krystal Tomlinson, who is the People’s National Party (PNP) candidate for West Rural St Andrew, will miss the upcoming political debates due to her recent exposure to the virus.

In a release issued by Tomlinson on Monday (August 24), she revealed that she had gone into self-quarantine, as she awaited the results from her COVID-19 test. The results are not yet known.

However, the release noted that Tomlinson had “no symptoms, relating to the virus at this time” but that she had halted all political campaign-related activities. Tomlinson will miss a critical aspect of her campaign as she goes up against the incumbent Jamaican Labour Party’s (JLP) Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn in the upcoming General Elections set for September 3.

Other dancehall personalities who were present at Beenie’s party and may have to get tested include Bounty Killer, KipRich, Konshens, Kemar Highcon, Team Ravers Clavers, including Beenie’s daughter Desha and Ding Dong, and Mr. Lexx.

Popcaan has been an advocate for mask-wearing since the very first case was recorded in Jamaica.

In an Instagram video in March 2020, he said: “One thing mi a tell yuh, this coronavirus business a get outta hand. Mi nah lef da mask ya.”

In that same video, he also added: “Anyweh mi deh, it deh deh. Nah tek no check. Not even Fiona or Shrek. It serious. Mask. Pullover.”

His post has been liked over 60,000 times which may be an encouraging sign that his fans are following the mask protocols established by the Jamaican government, like this fan who said: “Even doe mask cya save us just wear it follow #protocol mask up like wi ave carona ina di tint up corolla,” and this one who added: “covid 20 fi everywhere keep safe Wear unu mask 😷.”

COVID-19 has an incubation period of 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), COVID-19 is spread through respiratory droplets from person to person. That’s why mitigation of the spread involves wearing masks to cover nose and mouth as well as social distancing.

Jamaica has seen an increase in COVID-19 cases over the past couple of days and has now totaled 1612 cases.