Parliament on Tuesday gave the green light for a further extension of the State of Emergency (SOE) as the island deals with a new wave of cases linked to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Minister of Health Ian Gooding-Edghill, who piloted a resolution to extend the public health emergency in accordance with the Emergency Management Act, said the SOE would remain in effect until September 22.
He told his colleagues in the House of Assembly that the continuation of the measure was necessary because of the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 and emerging variants.
“Even though we continue to relax measures as we continue to manage this pandemic, I want to give the House the assurance that this resolution that is before us which will extend the State of Emergency until September 22 is something that we have to do because we are uncertain what will happen out there.
“We don’t know tomorrow if there will be another significant strain out there that could compromise Barbados and its population. So, for that reason we have to extend the State of Emergency until September when we will probably have a better feel of what is happening,” he said.
The Health Minister acknowledged calls for Government to rethink its mask mandate and assured that he was prepared to discuss the matter with interested parties.
Citing meetings that “went well” last week with the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA), which recently warned that the country was losing valuable tourism business to other destinations that now do not require people to wear masks, he said: “I explained what had happened in terms of the current situation and I said to them that we should regroup and have continued dialogue, and we have agreed to do so within the next four weeks.”
Gooding-Edghill also used the opportunity to appeal to Barbadians to adhere to the mask protocols and to get their initial vaccines and/or booster shots.
“We still have vaccines and Barbadians are more than capable of going to the various vaccination sites and getting vaccines and boosters as we continue to manage this particular wave of this pandemic,” he told legislators.
Last week, Barbados confirmed the presence of the Omicron BA.2 variant of COVID-19, as the island deals with a “dramatic” increase in the number of new cases.
Gooding-Edghill said then that confirmation had come from the Trinidad-based Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) following questions regarding the increase in new COVID-19 cases and the possible existence of the variant in Barbados.
“Let me remind you that COVID-19 is still with us and is likely to be with us for a long time. Be assured that we have the experience and scientific tools to help us properly manage the impact of COVID-19. The non-pharmaceutical interventions such as mask wearing, physical distancing, good hand hygienic practices, and ventilation are critical to reducing the spread of this virus,” he added then.
Meanwhile, Home Affairs and Information Minister Wilfred Abrahams sought to bring clarity to a new directive under which people could receive a fixed penalty of $100 for not wearing a face mask in public.
The measure applies to a public building, public place, or while traveling on a public service vehicle or other public transport, whether as a driver, conductor, or passenger.
Abrahams told Parliament that prior to the amendment, the offence was one for which an individual could be arrested and charged a sum of as much as $50,000. However, he said, having a conviction meant that an individual would have a criminal record while paying a fixed fine meant that was the end of the matter.
“So, if you were in certain public places, on a bus for example and you did not wear your mask and for some reason it was stopped and the police challenged you, as it obtained before last week, for the police to enforce the law they would have to arrest you, charge you, you go in front a magistrate, and then if the magistrate found you guilty of not wearing your mask without reasonable excuse, you could face a fine of up to $50,000. Nobody got fined $50,000 but the possibility was there that the fine could range from zero dollars to $50,000. A lot of the public did not actually understand that there was the possibility or the threat of a $50,000 fine,” Abrahams explained.
He also made it clear that police were not on a mission to target citizens or guests.
Barbados has recorded 388 COVID-19 deaths and 64,794 infections since the first case was detected in March 2020.
anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb
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