COVID-19: Around the Caribbean

Antigua & Barbuda in lockdown

A dusk to dawn curfew in Antigua & Barbuda was to replaced by a 1-week lockdown from midnight to help stem the spread of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) for which 7 people in the twin-island nation have tested positive so far.

Prime Minister Gaston Browne made the announcement in a virtual address to parliament, Tuesday, as he said that “the limited curfew is not working”.

“The people are not taking the level of responsibility to contain the COVID-10 virus,” he said.

During the lockdown, supermarkets will remain open, Browne said, but only a few people will be allowed in those establishments at any given time.

He also said the state of emergency announced on March 25, which prohibited everybody but essential workers from working, has been extended to 60 days.

“We will give further details on the policy as to exactly who could move, but in essence it gives a lockdown and we are asking people to stay at home in order to contain the spread of the virus,” the Prime Minister said.

Browne warned that the country’s healthcare system could not cope with an influx of critically ill COVID-19 patients.

Guyana extends the closure of two international airports

The Guyana government says the Cheddi Jagan International Airport and the Eugene Correia International Airport, which were closed last month as part of the efforts to stem the spread of COVID-19, will remain closed to international flights until May 1.

The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), in a letter to Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson, noted that the original 2-week period was “very effective and assisted tremendously with slowing the spread of COVID-19 by limiting international contacts”.

It said that the number of COVID-19 cases, both globally and regionally, have risen particularly in countries that have ports of origin for passengers to Guyana.

On March 19, the airports were officially closed to international flights, while domestic flights have proceeded.

Outgoing cargo flights, medivacs and technical stops for aircraft that require fuel have also received approvals by the GCAA.

As of March 31, Guyana has recorded 12 cases of COVID-19 with 2 deaths.

Haiti: President Moïse urges Haitians to stay home

President Jovenel Moïse has urged Haitians to remain indoors as the French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country recorded 8 new cases of COVID-19 during a 7-day period.

Health authorities said that the number of positive cases as of March 31, is 16 and have called on Haitians to follow the guidelines being given in a bid to stop the virus from spreading.

In a radio and television broadcast, Moïse also urged the population to follow the principles of good hygiene.

Trinidad & Tobago not declaring state of emergency

Trinidad & Tobago recorded its 5th death, the second within a 24-hour period, from COVID-19 but stopped short of announcing plans for a state of emergency (SOE) or a curfew to help curb the spread of the virus that has killed more than 43,000 people worldwide.

Prime Minister Keith Rowley, speaking at the daily news conference put on by the Ministry of Health, said Trinidad & Tobago is also considering releasing prisoners in a bid to curb the spread of the virus but had no intention of following the methods being adopted by some Caribbean island-nationss to implement the curfew and state of emergency.

He told reporters that if the situation “is deemed to be that we need to be more interventionist, and that intervention will put us in a better situation, then the government has no difficulty in doing it”. -(CMC)