HOTELIERS that continue to allow guests to flout Barbados’ COVID-19 protocols could find themselves removed from Government’s approved list of hotels used for quarantining.
In fact, Minister of Health and Wellness, Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Bostic, said that action could begin as early as this morning, as Government investigates some hotels for breaking protocols.
Minister Bostic was at the time speaking during a press conference hosted by members of the Cabinet COVID-19 Sub-committee led by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Dr. Jerome Walcott, at Ilaro Court yesterday evening.
Saying that he was not given the title “colonel” for nothing, Minister Bostic cautioned that his serious side will have to come out as the country seeks to guard its citizens during the pandemic with the goal of entering 2021 on a strong footing.
According to Minister Bostic: “We have had some breaches from quarantine. We have taken swift action to correct those and we are satisfied that we have that at this point, those breaches under control. But I want to say, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that time for speaking is over.
“And for those entities that breach or continue to breach the protocols, we are going to take action and that action I can tell you is in progress as I speak, because we are investigating a few matters, not related to people leaving quarantine, but to breaches of protocol within some of our hotels and action is being taken and will continue to be taken until we are able to see the desired results.”
“As soon as those investigations have been concluded, what will happen is that hotels that continue to flout the protocols as some have been doing, they will be removed or de-listed from the list of designated quarantine hotels. I say that and I mean that. And that is going to start to happen very soon. Perhaps by as early as tomorrow morning (this morning) that action will start, because we cannot and will not tolerate a continuation of the flouting of protocols,” he said.
Minister Bostic revealed that the monitoring of visitors in quarantine in hotels has been significantly improved by establishing the Quarantine Engagement Unit, which is being headed by Lt. Col. Atheline Branch, retired Deputy Chief of Staff of the BDF.
“She would have a team of about 30-40 community health liaison officers that we have now centralised their operations to be able to have a solid platform for us to do what is required and to monitor what it is we are doing.” (JH)