24-hr curfew extended until April 25, 2020
The announcement comes on the heels of the Virgin Islands recording its first suspected COVID-19 death on Saturday, April 18, 2020.
The Territory was scheduled to emerge from a complete 14-day lockdown on Monday, April 20, 2020 but was expecting an announcement of an extension of the curfew following a 4th recorded COVID-19 case and subsequent death of the patient, a 52-year-old female.
Another week of lockdown
In a midnight announcement, moments ago, April 19, 2020, Premier Fahie disclosed that Cabinet had agreed on an extended curfew as well as a commitment to ensure persons in need of food and other essential supplies to be able to access them.
He said Cabinet, meeting for a second time on April 18, 2020, concluded its deliberations and the following decisions were taken:
“Cabinet agreed to instruct the Attorney General, after advice from the National Security Council, to extend the 24-hour curfew for a period of 7 days, from Sunday 19th April 2020 until Saturday 25th April 2020.”
He said from 6:00am on Sunday, April 19, 2020, until April 25, 2020, “a new curfew arrangement goes in place.
“For these 7 days, the curfew will be in effect for 24 hours daily. Everyone must remain at home.”
According to the Premier, the extended curfew is important for containing any spread of the virus and to allow health officials the time they need to do contact tracing.
He said the new curfew arrangements will also apply to the Sister Islands.
‘No one in this Territory will go hungry’
Premier Fahie also said that as the Minister of Finance, he has instructed that the Territory spares no efforts to ensure that systems are put in place to get food and other essential supplies to “those who are needy or in need of food supplies.”
“No one under my watch as Premier of this Territory will go hungry during the extend curfew period,” Premier Fahie repeated.
It was announced that during the extended curfew, gas stations will be allowed to open to service essential workers only while supermarkets, pharmacies and water delivery services “would be open only for serving deliveries.”
Approved home delivery service will be for essential food supply only “from approved supermarkets” and home delivery of LPG cooking gas will be allowed.
“Cabinet agreed that the delivery of provision will be prioritised for seniors and [the] vulnerable with provisions following others across the Territory."
According to Premier Fahie, Cabinet also agreed for further discussions with supermarket suppliers on the ordering and delivery capacity.
“Cabinet agreed for all other businesses not specified above to be closed for the duration of the curfew period.”
Premier Fahie also said Cabinet will be meeting in the morning, April 19, 2020, to further finalise other logistics pertaining to the delivery of basic food packages and medication for all persons in need in each district.
“We must not lose another person to this virus. Coronavirus is not playing around with us and we in the BVI will not play around with it,” Premier Fahie said.
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60 Responses to “24-hr curfew extended until April 25, 2020”
The two supermarkets listed cannot accommodate the current demand for delivery service. They couldn't before, now things are more severe.
Let people out to buy food.
..
There are people who are already going hungry with no food or water and no money. We’ve been out there and we see and hear. I could not believe that this is actually happening in the BVI after encountering some of these situations.
You guys put your trust and life in the government, we are not the same
that doesn’t mean they’re trustworthy
How many people have died in the Caribbean, US, all around us?????
No-one is saying be fearful; what we are saying is use wisdom. don't be a donkey, and take the necessary precautions.
These prolonged, strict lockdowns don't seem to make a huge difference. Economy needs some breathing room. When livelyhoods are destroyed, lives eventually r destroyed.
This strict lockdowns r like chemotherapy- u hope they work after 1 first round, cause even an honest doctor would tell u that a 2nd or 3rd round usually has huge side effects and you risk dying because of the "cure" rather than the cancer itself.
Fear is the only thing to fear.
F. D. Roosevelt
There are:
22 persons per square mile in Sweden
673 persons per square mile in the BVI
This community reminds me of the imbeciles in Florida and Europe who believe they are invincible and go out in public intermingling like we're back in the 60s.
Your comment about fear is like saying oh well I know someone has chicken pox but I'm not fearful so I can be around them ...pick sense out of nonsense.
gloves,and mask to the public...so by this time one member of each family can go out and purchase supplies..when will we wake up...
Home delivery- picture all those persons that waited in lines for hours, days in some cases two weeks ago for groceries receiving home delivery ! Are grocery stores offering credit? People haven’t worked and paid for over three weeks.
...
You need to open the food stores now and allow people to buy supplies.
While I understand and thank the Government in their efforts for the need for social distancing in order to flatten the curve and keep the number of people who may be affected by Covid-19 to a level that the health services can cope I do not understand why the Government has adopted a social isolation approach.
The vast majority of people will recover from Covid-19!
Healthy adults need to contract this virus and recover, have immunity and go back to work.
Elderly and vulnerable groups are the ones that need to isolate. Not a whole population.
I fear there is no exit strategy here.
What can be done with a fully ‘sterile’ population?
This virus is not going away ! As soon as anyone travels or returns to the BVI there will be a risk of another bout of infections.
What then? Social lockdown each time?
Is lockdown going to slide along each time someone is tested positive ad nauseam?
People need to social distance but allow healthy people to go and get their groceries, go for a walk, swim in the ocean in their family groups.
Allow aid groups , delivery teams to assist the people who are high risk and vulnerable.
Ease the burden by allowing the vast majority of this very capable population to look after themselves.
The small minority who won’t obey the guidelines can be policed.
The Government has to announce measures being created to help people who are out of a job. They need to stop promising to announce! Tell us!
I feel for the people who have no income, no savings and are worried sick about how they are going to feed their children.
It is tragic that one person has passed away and I’m sad that people have irresponsibly fled the apartment complex out of fear.
Assurance should be given that the VAST majority of people will recover.
Sadly there is a viral pandemic amongst us.
People will succumb.
It’s awful. It’s tragic but the rhetoric is inciting fear, panic and a potential backlash against any people who will become sick.
Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home unless for essential needs.
BVI Government needs to perform a door to door medical census to understand who is truly sick. Then with this knowledge they can make decisions which truly benefits natives and residents.
If not, the lockdown will continue to stay in effect as they discover more and more covid-19 cases.
It is not right or proportionate to imprison the population for a month by the end of this.
You’ve got this one wrong.
is making these COVID-19 decisions? Is it one big MooMoo at the top with a bunch of Yes MooMoos. Are there
reasonable arguments being put forth by members? Are there worst-case, best case scenarios being
analyzed and explored. This sh@##t is unreal!
When are businesses going to be allowed to open to employ their staff so those persons can get money.
There are ALOT of people in need. Some of them have no money because their place of employment is closed and they’re not getting paid.
It’s not just the elderly. It’s mother’s with babies and young children.
Even if the supermarkets open, some persons have No Money to shop and no food. And it’s not a small percentage.
That is the reality we are facing.
7 days more will not stop others who want to move around as they choose.