Black Immigrant Daily News

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Barbados will be relaxing the mask mandate and ending the COVID-19 travel protocols from 12:01 am on Friday, September 23.

Acting Prime Minister Santia Bradshaw announced major changes to the COVID-19 Directive during a press conference at Ilaro Court this evening.

Bradshaw stated that the mask-wearing will be optional, however, there will be exceptions for healthcare, education, public transport and those in prisons.

“The wearing of masks generally will be optional, however, mask-wearing remains mandatory for persons in nursing homes, private hospitals and senior citizen homes; persons in healthcare institutions including staff, visitors, clients and patients; all institutions where medical and dental services are provided; persons in prison, including staff, prisoners and visitors; staff and students at all educational institutions; all nurseries and daycare facilities for both children and adults and of course, persons who have COVID-19, as well as, persons who are travelling on public transportation,” stated the acting Prime Minister.

She maintained that the relaxation did not signal that Barbadians should stop being their “brother’s keeper”. She stressed that the elderly, people with “increased risk for illness” and those who maintain contact with such individuals should continue to wear masks.

“Individuals who are at increased risk for illness or death due to COVID-19, particularly the elderly and those with health conditions, may find it prudent to continue wearing masks around others. Similarly, those who have come into close contact with such vulnerable persons, you are encouraged to wear masks and to practise good hand and respiratory hygiene,” Bradshaw recommended.

Broaching on the removal of the travel protocols, the Acting Prime Minister added that unvaccinated and vaccinated travellers will not be required to be tested for entry to Barbados.

Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Senator Lisa Cummins, who was also in attendance stated tourism partners and source markets will be notified of the changes.

The Tourism Minister said that the termination of the travel protocols will cause “a significant boost” this upcoming winter season.

“I certainly know that for the local tourism community, the industry partners…this is going to be a significant boost to our winter season which is upcoming because many of the people who are coming from our major source markets are they, themselves living in countries where these restrictions have been long removed and they are no longer in place except in some limited circumstances….and so it allows for a seamless transitions for visitors from their home countries to here in Barbados,” she said.

“If I am uncomfortable in my space, if I feel as though I am in a room where there are more people than I may be comfortable with or I feel as though I am symptomatic, I will wear my mask and that is a personal choice we will both make here and when we travel and when visitors come here as well,” continued Minister Cummins.

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Former Tourism Minister Dominic Fedee has taken issue with suggestions that Saint Lucia is continuing to break tourism records.

He described the industry’s performance as lacklustre and lukewarm.

“What we are seeing is a lack of planning, a lack of proactiveness. We have made more trips to Nigeria and to Dubai where we have no planes coming from rather than taking care of our traditional markets like the US and the UK to make sure that these markets are firing on all cylinders,” Fedee told a news conference on Thursday.

And he warned against highlighting one aspect of tourism, rather than looking holistically at the industry.

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“I debunk statements made by the Ministry of Tourism suggesting that the industry is breaking records – we’re not. We have a long way to go,” the former Anse La Raye-Canaries MP declared.

By way of example, he quoted Saint Lucia Tourism Authority (SLTA) figures indicating that in 2019 before COVID-19, stayover arrivals at this time were 262 381 while this year the figure up to July was 209 929.

The former Minister declared that this represented over 50 000 less than where the country was in 2019.

In addition, he observed that the cruise sector at this time in 2019 based on the SLTA’s latest report, accounted for 484 631.

” Now we are at 164, 044 which means that we are over 300,000 behind where we were if we had to look at our winter season for the cruise industry. This would mean we are presiding over the worst summer in the cruise season that we have seen in the last 25 years,” he asserted.

Fedee also quoted figures for the yachting sector.

He said it was shocking that a Tourism Minister would be happy with those numbers.

However, Fedee acknowledged that in the defence of the Minister of Tourism and those in charge of tourism, Saint Lucia was recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

But he warned that people must be careful how they make pronouncements as the recovery continues.

Headline photo: Dominic Fedee (Stock image)

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