Gov’t to issue ‘stay at home’ advisory for Easter weekend

The state will likely issue an advisory for the Easter weekend, starting from Good Friday, extending to Easter Monday, urging persons to stay at home, and the minibuses to stay off the road.

Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves announced this while speaking on the WE FM, today April 5.

While providing updates on a number of topics related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Prime Minister touched on the issue of the coming Easter weekend.

He told listeners that he had a conversation with the Chief Medical Officer(CMO), Simone Keizer-Beache, during which he indicated that they “perhaps” need to issue an advisory covering Good Friday to Easter Monday. He disclosed that the CMO agreed, and indicated that she was thinking this as well.

“She is working on that draft advisory as I speak,” the Prime Minister stated.

Therefore, over these four days, at this time when “people go to church, people have a lot of individual parties, a lot of people go to the beach, people do river cooks,” go to waterfalls and go on boat excursions; “We should, over that period, try as much as possible to see if we can stay at home,” Gonsalves indicated.

He added that “Of course essential people still have to do their work, police, nurses, doctors, the people at the airports, for internal travel, because external travel has practically been closed…”

The Easter weekend is not a “time for a lot of productive activity”, except the Saturday and except in the entertainment field, the Prime Minister contemplated.

Further, he reiterated that Easter Regatta and Easterval have been cancelled, and amplified music cannot be played.

“Friday, what happens on Good Friday, most people stay home, or go to the beach,” he stated, as well as Easter Sunday and Monday.

“Well we should encourage people NOT to go to the beach, because they going to gather in large numbers at the beach…at the various beaches,” Gonsalves noted.

“…So we say let’s use this as an opportunity to stop the extent of the interaction, over the period where you have a lot of jollification,” he explained.

Where the churches are concerned, the Prime Minister noted that for most churches these days are important ones on their calendar. He made a suggestion that there be one service on these days which is broadcast via radio and internet, but without a gathering.

For the minibuses, the Prime Minister noted that they will “Ask the minibus men…say listen, on that day – Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday – stay off the road, except you are hired to take essential people to work, and those who have essential services doing.”