There is an indefinite ban on bus crawls in Barbados.
This is among the measures announced by Attorney General Dale Marshall on Saturday evening when he provided an update on the Special Curfew Directive in place as part of the COVID-19 emergency management plan.
The directive took immediate effect on January 2 and will continue through January 15 from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. Marshall said during those hours, “no one is to be on the roads of Barbados, out of their residences, anything of the sort”, unless they fall into the category of essential workers or there is an emergency which forces them to leave home.
He and fellow Cabinet colleagues, Minister of Foreign Affairs Senator Jerome Walcott and Minister of Health Jeffrey Bostic were joined by acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Kenneth George in providing an update from Ilaro Court on a super spreader bus crawl on Boxing Day which caused the COVID-19 numbers to balloon on Friday and Saturday.
“These bus crawls are obviously a clear and present danger in terms of the closeness and the interaction of the individuals participating in them,” Marshall explained.
“So while this directive is banning bus crawls for the next two weeks until the 14th, I can say to you with absolute certainty that when the 14th comes, we are going to be extending the ban on bus crawls beyond this period. We are in this dreadful position simply because of the intrinsic nature of this kind of event and we simply cannot afford to permit them to continue at this time.”
Up to Saturday, 161 inmates, warders and civilian staff at Her Majesty’s Prison Dodds were positive for COVID-19 after several prison officers attended the bus crawl. Government launched an extensive contact tracing exercise and hundreds of people were tested. The polyclinics will open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday to facilitate further assessments and testing.
Listed below are some of the other conditions of the directive.
The following businesses may remain open during the 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew.
- Fuel manufacturers, storage facilities and distributors.
- Gas stations.
- Manufacturing companies.
- Hotels, villas and other rental accommodation.
- Others may apply to the Attorney General for an exemption.
Places of worship shall be open for the conduct of:
- Funeral services with no more than ten mourners, one officiant, funeral director and the necessary staff.
- Weddings with the bride, groom, two witnesses and the marriage officer.
- Religious services or the streaming of services, at which only three people, including the officiant, shall be present.
No one shall stage or attend:
- A party
- A recreational or competitive sporting event
- A banquet, ball, dance or reception
- A meeting of a fraternity, private or social club or civic association or organisation
- Any event known as a bus crawl or lime
- A karaoke event
- Picnic or bus or other vehicular excursion.
- The beach is open for swimming and exercise with a limit of 10 people from the same household.
Anyone contravening these laws is subject to a fine of $50 000 upon conviction or prison term of one year. (SAT)
Full coverage in today’s Sunday Sun.
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