Published 22 April 2020
Buckie Got It, St. Kitts and Nevis News Source
RELAXING OF RESTRICTIONS IN ST. KITTS AND NEVIS MUST BE WELL-MANAGED, SAYS PM HARRIS
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, April 22, 2020 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – On Monday and Tuesday of this week, thousands of citizens and residents took advantage of the relaxed restrictions with respect to increasing the number of partial curfew days and allowing more non-essential businesses in the country to operate while respecting the established protocols as outlined in the Saint Christopher and Nevis Statutory Rules and Orders No.13 and No. 14 of 2020 Emergency Powers (COVID-19) (No. 5) Regulations.
But while many were appreciative of the relaxed restrictions, Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris has warned that this process must be well-managed in order to prevent a worsening of the situation.
“You would note that during the course of the week more entities are being opened, more business places were allowed to [operate]. The hardware stores were opened, the buses were able to take more people and we are allowing that as we listen and we appreciate the need for people to get back to work to earn incomes and to help themselves and to help their families. But at the same time, we have to do it carefully and it has to be well-managed or we could worsen the situation,” Prime Minister Harris stated.
As such, Dr. Harris reiterated his call for persons to continue to practice and adhere to the necessary measures that are designed to keep everyone safe. These include the wearing of face masks, the practice of proper hand hygiene and adhering to the social distance guidelines.
The honourable prime minister further advised that the Government’s decision as to what happens next week, depends heavily on the success of this week.
“So far, things are going reasonably well,” Prime Minister Harris said. “If things continue that way up to Friday (April 24) we will continue in the following week which means Monday, [April 27] and Tuesday [April 28] we will have limited business operations just as we have now, so there’s no need for people to go overcrowding the supermarkets because four days of the week you will be able to access them.”
Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris continued by saying that as things improve week by week, St. Kitts and Nevis “could get closure to a point where there is further easing but that depends upon you.”
Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Hazel Laws, stated earlier this week that the Government’s decision to relax restrictions came as a result of the low number of positive cases and the low rate of increase of the COVID-19 virus, as well as the having the relevant public health measures in place.
