As countries across the globe see new surges in COVID cases, Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper said if the government erred in relaxing restrictions, adjustments will be made.
Some people have raised concern over the possibility that, given the global trends, The Bahamas will soon be faced with another spike in COVID cases and hospitalizations.
However, Cooper said that if there is an indication of that, changes will be made as needed.
“We have been very methodical in terms of making the requirements more relaxed,” he said.
“We haven’t been loose and free in terms of what we are doing.
“We have followed the science, but we recognize that we have to live with COVID. It hasn’t gone away. It’s not going away anytime soon and we can stay cooped up in our houses, we can close our borders, close our industries and we can stay at home and die from hunger. That’s a very extreme example, but I say it only to say that we have to move on. We have to live with COVID.
“If we find that we made some error in judgment in terms of the relaxations, we’ll adjust them.
“But right now we believe that the new rules are working. We promised the Bahamian people that we’re going to get out of the state of emergency, we’re going to go back to a sense of normalcy, and this is what we’re seeking to do. So far, so good. The numbers are down. What we are doing is working.”
At the tail end of a brutal third wave, which claimed hundreds of lives in The Bahamas, the newly-elected Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) government relaxed a number of restrictions that had been put in place by former Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis.
The government also did away with the state of emergency and the emergency orders made under it, which had been used to enforce COVID restrictions since the start of the pandemic.
The result is that curfews and lockdowns are no longer enforceable under the new health regulations that are now being used to implement restrictions.
Cooper said the government is working on several initiatives to improve The Bahamas’ ability to fight COVID, including a long-promised free testing program.
He said there are also plans underway to ramp up an educational campaign.
“We’re making sensible, practical changes, but we have to recognize that COVID is going to be with us for a long time and we have to learn to live with it, and that’s what we’re doing,” he said.
Forty-three COVID cases were recorded in The Bahamas over the weekend. Of them, 40 were on New Providence, one on Grand Bahama, one on Eleuthera, and one on Exuma.
The numbers are significantly down.
As of Saturday, 22 people were hospitalized in The Bahamas with COVID, compared to nearly 200 in early September.
However, with less than 40 percent of the population vaccinated against COVID, and the economy relatively open, The Bahamas is particularly susceptible to the possibility of another wave of cases and deaths.
The post DPM: Govt will adjust COVID rules if need arises appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/dpm-govt-will-adjust-covid-rules-if-need-arises/
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