Hidden parties a major problem for COVID Task Force — Lionel Michael
Chief Environmental Health Officer, Lionel Michael has said the hosting of ‘clandestine fetes’ is contributing to the spread of COVID-19 in the BVI.
Michael, who oversees the Social Distancing Task Force, said his agency has encountered serious challenges, particularly with parties that have been advertised without any location or contact information.
“I think the major problem now we are having is these fetes. These fetes and these parties that people are organising and they do not inform the Ministry or the Task Force of when they are having them or where they are having them,” Michael said during a recent stakeholders forum to address the COVID-19 surge in the territory.
According to Michael, when agents of the Social Distancing Task Force finally arrive at these events, they are often greeted with persons in violation of the social distancing protocols.
“When we show up, we see people, it’s a big challenge. The people are not wearing masks. Of course, they tell you they have their drinks; they’re eating, they’re drinking,” he added.
Michael acknowledged that the mask provision allows for the removal of masks during eating and drinking, but said even when persons are not eating or drinking, they remain without masks at these events.
Meanwhile, he said concerns remain about establishments that can easily host more than 100 persons but still have problems with crowding.
“We are seeing people have 20 people, 30 people in their place and they can hold 150 and they have 25 and people are still crowding. It seems to be a natural human tendency for when they go out, when they go to social functions, they tend to gather together, come together and come close up to one another,” Michael said.
He said masks become even more important in these instances.
Penalties
Individuals are fined $100 for a first offence in breaching COVID-19 protocols, while repeat offenders are charged $200 for a second offence.
On the other hand, there is also a fixed fine of $1,000 for businesses that breach the protocols. The business will also be immediately closed, Michael said.
He said this is usually followed up by training, a quiz, implementation of social distancing measures, and inspection before they can reopen.
Over 400 tickets
Michael said more than 400 tickets have been issued to date since the establishment of the Task Force.
The Social Distancing Task Force, under the supervision of the Environmental Health Division, consists of 43 officers who are stationed on Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Jost Van Dyke and Anegada.
Officers are responsible for the daily monitoring of designated areas in the territory to ensure businesses and individuals are in compliance with preventative health and safety measures such as the wearing of face masks in public spaces, maintaining gathering sizes, physical distancing and sanitisation protocols and measures.
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Even if we report those hidden party holders nothing will be done because there are clear favorites and exemptions from who can do and who just CAN’T
Draconian policing is not the solution.
Mandate vaccines and masks and let us get on with our lives
How exactly do you think these mask and vaccine mandates are going to be enforced, if not with more “draconian policing?
Mandates in general don’t work.
Vaccine will not prevent you from getting infected with covid19. Check all the countries with the highest vaccination rates like Israel. Vaccine may not prevent you from dying when infected. It is assumed that the rate of fatality is lower with the vaccinated who has underlying chronic health issues. It is therefore better to deal with the chronic conditions and allow the body to respond naturally to Covid. Just assist the body with supplements
When are we going to admit that these so called protocols do not work? The Supermarket is one of the areas with heavy consumer traffic yet there’s nobody there checking on them. The carts are in the parking lots, not being sanitized, nobody is walking around the store sanitizing anything. It’s as if Supermarkets, Churches and others are immune to scrutiny while they continue to blame the ‘fetes’ as he says. If the rules state that you can remove your mask to eat/drink, then doesn’t it mean that when multiple persons remove their masks to eat/drink they’re exposed thereby making the mask useless in the first place? We have vaccines and way more knowledge about COVID now so let’s act like we have some sense and move on
If a shopping cart is in a parking lot, it doesn’t need to be sanitized. Sunlight kills the virus within seconds. We’ve known this for 2 years. Maybe YOU should move on.
So that doesn’t need to be sanitized but they should be stalking people out having a drink? There’s a double-standard here I think. If someone says the alcohol content in the rum kills it you would say they’re talking s**t but here you are talking about sunlight….laughable!
While you are at it please inspect supermarkets for rotten fruits and vegetables, if you want to save lives how come so much rotten fruits and vegetables on supermarkets shelves until fruit flies taking them over .
Because they are too expensive and the owners prefer for them to rot rather than sell things at a reasonable rate that people can afford to purchase them. Check out Pasea. Each time the Fruits rots they increase the price of the next set to try and recuperate the losses, resulting in a greater loss.
These weren’t hidden….FOXY’S NEW YEAR BASH,LOBSTER FEST, TRELLIS BAY BASH, SHOW AT SKELTON’S BAYLOT AND THE PREMIER’S BALL
Yep, they wait after Roxy’s party to enforce restrictions
“On the other hand, there is also a fixed fine of $1,000 for businesses that breach the protocols. The business will also be immediately closed, Michael said.
He said this is usually followed up by training, a quiz, implementation of social distancing measures, and inspection before they can reopen.”
2 years into dealing with COVID and this is the DUMB F**K that so called educated people have come up with!!!
And still no mention of treatment for this deadly virus.
A bunch of educated, sell out fools running this place.
Meanwhile there is raw sewage running all over, water outages making it difficult to sanitize, raw smoke and garbage burning down at he dump site, expired items in supermarkets, no proper oversight at roadside vendors or restaurants etc. But this is important to them. They care about our health they say, wow.
“These fetes and these parties that people are organizing and they do not inform the Ministry or the Task Force of when they are having them or where they are having them”
“clandestine fetes”
““It seems to be a natural human tendency for when they go out, when they go to social functions, they tend to gather together”
Do you want to fight against self admitted ‘natural tendency’, if its natural it wont be possible to eliminate socializing…. without extinction.
What is this Saudi Arabia? Australia? North Korea?? Iran?
Either lock us down, procure the treatment or get heck off the peoples back about clandestine fetes that just were invited to not that their clandestine as you obviously found them.
Its probably no more clandestine than the last 100 years. Birthdays & funerals, gatherings happen all the time.
I dont & you all dont have to attend any parties to see this shiz is moving into a tyrannical human rights abusing mentality.
Just an idea, but maybe it’s not possible for government agencies to police people’s private parties and they shouldn’t be trying to do so.
Get together at church and pray.
Then we will get a fine of 1000.
Mr minister.
true? but you would hear news from downing Street every day and all the so called holy men like csc only spewing out racism , independence and being paid for doing ? and one is silent like a lamb / and the bishop turn ghost overnight ( a whole bunch of pretenders
Do they know why they are allowed to freely attack
leaders, influencial people, and ordinary to poor Black folk on this site?
It is the tasty pot of division, and our people are sucking up like hot cakes, as they say.
Meanwhile, our VI’s are secretly but openly being turned into a two society segregated, with arparthied like implications already being implemented…. Yet, some ah we are to busy doing his bidding that we don’t see our own demise and that of future generations coming.
Has anyone bothered to notice, there is hardly any to no positive comments and or images allowed on this site on a daily basis. And, noone who adovates unity and togetherness for Black VI’slanders?
You all had better start seeing, thinking, analyzing and waking up. If you all think CSC and or others are your enemies, you had better check your mental programming, who is programming you and why.
“No human is better than any other. No one is privileged unless you make them so. Greed, hypocrisy and deceit lose over truth, integrity and ingenuity.”
A dire prediction: Most to all of us will be long gone, but it is clear to some that the VI’s will again return to conditions equal to the 18th and before centuries, with brutal aparthied being its corner stone, where Black VI’s will become and treated less than vermin, and yoall still here yo kind is yo enemy…….
Lawless and willful behavior
If the premier wants to overturned the Authority of the Attorney General !!! Who would obey the law ? Show example from the head