Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley.
Government has seen a considerable change in the behaviour of Barbadians in relation to guarding against the spread of COVID-19 since the recent phased reopening, and as such, there will be a further ease in the restrictions governing how Barbadians can operate going forward.
Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley made the announcement in an address to the nation yesterday, as she gave an update on the management of the COVID-19 pandemic in Barbados.
Stressing that “we are trending in the right direction”, she however stressed that as Barbados opens up more places for work and business from Monday March 15, caution must still be exercised as “we are not yet out of the woods”.
“When the time came for us to say we needed to tighten up, I (told) you so, straightforward. I have to thank Barbadians for the most part for responding and for working with the officials within the Ministry of Health and the COVID Monitoring Unit. Are we out of the woods? Absolutely not. Do we have however a far better sense and a far better level of performance than we did two weeks ago…? Yes. We are trending in the right direction,” the Prime Minister remarked.
She however stated, “While we are going to see some liberating and some liberalising of the restrictions, I want to continue to repeat and to ask all Barbadians, do not drop your guard, we are certainly too close to getting to a point of safety for us to do so at this stage.”
Mottley later indicated that following yesterday’s Cabinet meeting, that it was decided that the present curfew will be relaxed and it will now be from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday will still remain a closed day for commercial activity, until further notice. Whilst restaurants can open for in-house dining purposes based on their space, fast food restaurants cannot and only drive thru or take away business can occur. Hairdressers, barbers and aestheticians can open back up, but the risk is still too high for those operating gyms, pleasure craft and charters. It has also been noted that only non-team and non-contact sports are permitted, except for squash and table tennis, given the space dimensions. Weddings without receptions are allowed, as well as funeral services and church services, at a cap of 75 persons who must be six feet apart.
In the transport sector, the 60 per cent capacity restriction has been removed in favour of 75 per cent, with mask wearing in full effect.
There has meanwhile been no change in relation to beach access and the time previously allotted for exercise.
Mottley also advised that a meeting is to take place next week with education officials, after which the way forward for the education sector and the reopening of schools will be outlined.
(RSM)