by Linda Straker
- Midnight to 4 am curfew will discontinue as of 7 December
- Recent Ministry of Health dashboard positivity rate was 0.5% of total people tested
- Testing resumes on arriving passengers at Maurice Bishop International Airport
The midnight to 4 am curfew will discontinue in Grenada as of 7 December because of the current low Covid-19 infection rate and the psychosocial effects the mitigation measure is believed to be having on citizens.
“It is our belief and Cabinet has endorsed that the quarantine that exists from midnight to 4 am is to be removed with effect from today,” Health Minister Nickolas Steele announced during the weekly Tuesday post-cabinet briefing.
Explaining that the removal is because of the current epidemiological situation where the positivity rate for the past weeks is less than 5% on any given day. The most recent Ministry of Health dashboard said that the positivity rate was 0.5% of the total people tested.
“How long it will remain will be based on our monitoring, it’s based on our external factors, it’s based for us as well on our social interactions and our social behaviour,” said Steele who without elaborating point out that the curfew is having negative psycho-social effects on the nation.
“From the Ministry of Health, as well most definitely the cabinet and Government of Grenada we do believe that the midnight to 4 am curfew has been having a psycho-social effect on us all and the balance must always be sought and at this pointing time we believe that it is possible to safely remove that curfew, and hopefully do not have to bring it back,” Steele said.
Describing the removal as providing breathing space for the population, he said that Grenada will be paying close attention to the global Covid-19 situation and the Government will not delay implementing new measures that will work in the best interest of the country.
“We will continue to monitor the international and regional situation and that may cause us to make some adjustment with respect to how we monitor our ports and how we monitor individuals entering the country.” Steele disclosed that Grenada will resume testing all arriving passengers at the Maurice Bishop International Airport. “So, it is breathing space, and I do hope, and we do hope, it means for me indefinitely but from monitoring, we will adjust accordingly. I do look forward to working with all of us to ensure that this curfew remains off.”
Although the curfew restriction is removed, because the country continues to operate under a State of Emergency, the Emergency Powers regulations and Public Health regulations will continue to be enforced.
Grenada economy needs that Christmas boost, and most importantly allowing the residents of Grenada to increase their finances in order to have a joyful Christmas season with their family and friends and prepare for the slow month of January.
Well that’s good news considering the festive season is around the corner it would make perfect sense to lift the existing curfew.
I hope they make it very clear as to what is still in place so that there is no confusion.