Joint Services to enforce COVID-19 measures
– individuals to be charged for not wearing masks
– penalizing non-compliant businesses
By Sueann Wickham
The Minister for Health, Frank Anthony.
Kaieteur News – The government is enforcing strict enforcement of the COVID-19 measures, to ensure citizen and business compliance.
The Health Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony, made this revelation during a virtual press conference yesterday.
Addressing the recent rise in new infections, Dr. Anthony reported that there were currently about 900 active cases and most of the infections were recorded in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) and Region Three (Essequibo-West Demerara Islands). He referred to the Health Minister as “quite concerned.”
Furthermore, he highlighted that many people do not adhere to one of the most important COVID-19 measures – wearing face masks. At the seawalls, he said, people are seen in numbers without face masks.
In light of these events, the COVID-19 National Task Force held a meeting yesterday, led by its commander, Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips. It was stated that, through the joint services, which include the Guyana Police Force, more must be enforced as the continued disregard of the guidelines in public places will lead to more infections.
In addition, the Health Minister lamented that Guyana’s COVID-19 immunization program is not at a level where the number of serious infections can be reduced. The government has only extended vaccine eligibility to a small category of people, which includes the elderly, frontline healthcare workers and members of parliament.
Dr. Anthony also noted that the hospitals had increased, with 51 people in total in the Intensive Care Units, at West Demerara Regional Hospital and Liliendaal Infectious Disease Hospital (Ocean View Hospital COVID-19).
According to the Minister, people seem to have “dropped their guard” but “COVID is not over, we have COVID circulating and we have to take those precautions.” As such, it continues its appeal for persons to take all precautions.
He said more people would be charged for not wearing masks, suggesting it was a practice that was already being enforced. Until the Minister’s disclosure, this publication had received no reports of people being accused of not wearing their masks. The Minister also said that police ranks would monitor public transport to ensure that passengers, especially in minibuses and boats, wore their masks.
He also announced that businesses that fail to follow the guidelines will “see punishment come their way.” The Guyana Tourism Authority is currently monitoring restaurants and bars that are allowed to reopen to ensure they maintain the mandatory 40 percent capacity and six-foot social distance.