Exuma Chamber of Commerce President Pedro Rolle yesterday called the “instant” lockdown of Exuma announced by Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis Wednesday night, “the lazy way out”.
While Rolle acknowledged the rampant spread of cases on the island needs to be addressed, he said the prime minister should have given at least a day for visitors on Exuma – many of whom are now stuck on the island – to leave.
“To me, just the automatic shutdown is the lazy way out. It’s like a parent deciding ‘my child is disobedient so I’m going to spank them’. That’s the lazy response to the situation,” he told Guardian Business yesterday.
Exuma has reported 42 new COVID-19 cases so far this month.
As a result, the prime minister announced during a national address on Wednesday that “urgent action” needed to be taken. He announced a weekday curfew from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. and weekend lockdowns from 6 p.m. on Fridays to 5 a.m. on Mondays.
Commercial activity is allowed during the week except for at fish fries, bars and restaurants, among other restrictions.
“In the face of what’s happening, something has to be done. The fact that we’re having a serious spike, it calls for a serious reaction. So, the shutdown itself, I think, definitely is necessary. My assessment of it, though, is that you know we’ve been doing this shutdown thing for a long time off and on and this is not the first time that we’ve had a substantial shutdown in Exuma either. I don’t know if being shut down is the ultimate answer, so it means that we need to take a look at the lockdown,” Rolle said.
“What I think would have been a good thing is if we combined the shutdown measures with more input in terms of how do we ensure greater enforcement.”
Rolle said a more effective solution to slow the spread of the virus would be a combination of restrictions along with a greater presence of enforcement.
“We can have a COVID-19 task force – whether it’s a combination of police and other enforcement entities – that ensure that our public areas are being compliant, whether it’s the grocery stores, the restaurants, whether it’s the airports, because it is so lax in terms of the compliance aspect of it. I think if the same effort and the same resources are placed in the compliance part of it, it would reduce the need for shutdowns and our economy can still continue to go on to a greater degree because we have the enforcement in place,” he said.
“If you go in an establishment, they are not being compliant and they are held accountable, you’d be amazed at how quickly they would ensure we have social distancing. You would be amazed by how they would refuse to have people walking in without masks. These are the things that we know scientifically make a difference, you don’t have to debate that. If people are compliant, it reduces exposure and it reduces the number of people being infected. That’s where I think the government should put most of its resources.”
With the tourism sector in its infantile recovery stage, Rolle said the sudden lockdown doesn’t bode well for the reputation of the island or the country, as they feverishly try to entice visitors.
“This morning I was just speaking to a little boutique hotel owner and he’s got bookings and what have you. He’s mentioning that November has been his best month since February or March. So, even at the moment of the lockdown, he has his place about 80 percent occupied. It’s a small place but 80 percent occupancy is 80 percent occupancy,” Rolle said.
“A number of those persons coming in are coming via Nassau or from Nassau, so the Nassau part of his business now goes out the door. And this is what happens when people aren’t given notice, so when people book, they hear we’re on lockdown and the shutdown always happens so instantly that people can’t plan, what it does is it causes people to lack confidence in the destination. People will say ‘we can go there’ and then say ‘the next thing we know, we are stuck there’.
“It would have been a good thing, too, if when these things happen notice could be given, and I know that comes with its challenges. I think out of respect for people and their plans, it should be given. We have people in Exuma today, they came for either business or vacation, they are scheduled to leave tomorrow. They can’t leave tomorrow because the airport is shut down. We should have been given at least a day’s notice so that those people who have to leave can, because they can’t afford to stay. So, what happens to those people who did not budget to spend an extra two weeks to stay here? What happens to them?”
On Tuesday, Minnis reinstated a mandatory 14-day quarantine for people traveling from New Providence to other islands. Quarantine requirements for domestic travel were relaxed just days earlier on November 8.
The post Lockdown is ‘the lazy way out’, laments Exuma Chamber head appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/lockdown-is-the-lazy-way-out-laments-exuma-chamber-head/
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