Basseterre, St. Kitts, June 26, 2020 (SKNIS): Several additional changes have been made to the Regulations under the current State of Emergency that was implemented to contain the spread of COVID-19.
The current Regulations No 19 under the Emergency Powers Act, come to an end tomorrow, Saturday 27th June, 2020, and further Regulations will come into effect. These regulations shall come into operation from 5:00 a.m. on Saturday 27th June 2020 and expire at 4:49 a.m. on 25th July 2020 under SR&O No 27 of 2020.
Acting upon the recommendations of our medical professionals and the COVID-19 National Task Force, the new regulations that come into effect tomorrow will bring about some additional changes.
The nightly curfew remains in place from 12:00 midnight to 5:00 am daily to help in maintaining social distancing at popular night spots.
Also, for the purpose of exercise, beaches can now be open to the general public without limitation during the days of limited operation.
Paying attention to one’s spiritual health is important and from now on church/worship can be held on days of limited operations. Furthermore, the number of persons attending funerals and weddings should be limited to the new capacity for church venue under the new COVID-19 guidelines in keeping with the physical distancing measures of 6 ft.
Resumption of sports and recreational activities contributes to the health, economic, social and cultural benefits to our society emerging from the COVID-19 environment and therefore a consensus has been arrived at that some sports can be allowed for the next two weeks. Some of these sports and recreational activities include athletics, basketball, cricket, cycling, football, golf, handball, martial arts, judo, karate, taekwondo, netball, para-athletes sports, softball, table tennis, tennis and volleyball.
However, persons who attend sports training or practice sessions for amateur or other recreational sporting events shall adhere to social distancing and physical distancing protocols, as far as is reasonably practicable; wear a face mask except during the training or practice exercise, adhere to hygiene protocols including hand-sanitization and sanitization of equipment. All training or practice sessions shall be in accordance with any other conditions or directives given by the COVID-19 Task Force and the Ministry of Sports.
With respect to eating out, a family dining together can be a maximum of six (6) persons.
Additionally, an omnibus, hiring car, or taxi or ferry for travel purposes only can operate at 100 percent capacity if four measures are adhered to, namely, windows to remain open to reduce use of air condition; mandatory wearing of face mask; mandatory use of hand sanitizer prior to and after trips and appropriate sanitization of vessel/vehicle between trips (in the context of COVID-19). However, the use of ferry (catamaran) for recreational purposes is not allowed as yet.