BARBADOS — Barbadians are to usher in the New Year from their homes, as a curfew has been ordered at the stroke of midnight while the authorities probe a baffling outbreak of coronavirus infections among Barbadians with no travel histories, Barbados Today reported on Thursday, December 31.
Declaring she was taking immediate action to protect citizens and guests, Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced a nightly midnight to 5 a.m. curfew until January 14.
Old Year’s Night “commercial fetes” are to be cancelled, but Government is to provide compensation to affected promoters and event planners, she said.
Some 65 events were registered with the Government’s COVID-19 Monitoring Unit and the organisers are in line to receive compensation for the loss of perishable items, the PM said.
Church services to keep the traditional vigil over the passage of 2020 into 2021 have been allowed to go ahead but must all end by 11 p.m. Restaurants must also close by 11 p.m.
Now, the Ministry of Health is zeroing in on Her Majesty’s Prison Dodds in St Philip to test for the virus after two prison officers tested positive for COVID-19.
The two are in a batch of five local residents of a total of ten new positive cases reported on Thursday, prompting a hastily called news conference to announce the curfew and a mass testing campaign at the prison. See full Barbados Today story at https://barbadostoday.bb/2020/12/31/curfew-announced-amid-probe-into-local-coronavirus-cases/
