‘Calls like crazy’: Govt under pressure to ease lockdown

The Government on Monday found itself grappling with Barbadians increasingly probing the boundaries of the coronavirus directives and the possibility it may further ease an array of restrictions on shopping, socialising and worship.

The COVID-19 Monitoring Unit has been battling with Barbadians who continue to break protocols, Attorney General Dale Marshall told journalists.

But at the same time, Prime Minister Mia Mottley and the Cabinet sub-committee on COVID-19chaired by Foreign Minister Dr Jerome Walcott are said to be examining the latest coronavirus infection rates as they consider lifting additional restrictions.

Marshall said that while last week’s phased reopening of the country following a four-week lockdown went well, some Barbadians have been taking chances they should not be taking at this time and dropping their guard in many respects.

He said that while Government has allowed community shops to sell only to customers who must leave immediately after making their purchases, authorities are seeing unnecessary gatherings there.

“We are seeing in some instances where one minute turns into an hour, turn into five and we are asking people to be responsible,” said the Attorney General. “Because if we have to shut down again, the truth is that those are going to be some of the first places that are going to get shutdown. And you have to act not just in the interest of all Barbadians, but in your own self-interest. So we really want people to be more responsible.”

Health authorities are happy with the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, he added, suggesting that when the herd immunity has been reached, creating a safer environment, additional restrictions would be lifted.

Marshall declared: “The phenomenon that we are seeing is everybody wants everything. So everybody wants to open and they are finding all kinds of reasons why they should be open. And yes we understand only too well the financial difficulties that they put people in, but at the same time, we have a larger obligation to the country.

“And part of that obligation requires us to be a little bit more considerate in terms of our opening up than Barbadians would like us to be. We have seen some of the pressures that were on the supermarkets eased up a bit, so that’s a good sign.

“We have been getting a lot of requests to give churches an ease so we will consider that. Churches want to have a greater presence in terms of the congregation, and then there are other service businesses that want to open, real estate agents, and so on.

“We are getting the calls like crazy, emails because everybody wants to open back but we will be guided by the numbers. It is important for us to see Barbadians back to work but we have to temper that enthusiasm with some restraint to ensure that we keep a damper on the spread.” (AH)