GCCI calls for 7PM curfew for businesses

Apr 01, 2020 News

Recognizing that the Georgetown Mayor and City Council does not have the authority to enforce the closure of businesses, the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) is calling on the business community to voluntarily practice social distancing and to close their doors at 07:00PM.
In a statement to the press yesterday, the business chamber highlighted the measures, specifically social distancing, which the population can implement to slow the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic.
The GCCI pointed to an article titled “The Math Behind Social Distancing”, which noted that both the method and the timeline of the intervention taken can make a huge difference.
The article makes reference to a graph from BMC Public Health 9, 117 (2009) which shows that the potential outcomes range between 7% and 60%.
The document stated that the difference between the two is that 60% of the population will be infected if nothing is done. In contrast, it was noted that only 7% of the population will get infected if all possible measures are taken within a 1-week delay of the start of the outbreak.
“It is important to note that the 60% bound is related to an assumption that for a virus such as the coronavirus, which has a reproduction (R0) of around 2.5, it would require 60% of the population to be infected in order to achieve herd immunity. Essentially, this means that 60% of 750,000 people, or, 450,000 people would have to be infected to achieve herd immunity. It must also be noted that it can be expected that 2% (900,000) of the infected persons will die,” the GCCI highlighted.
The business chamber added that based on the studies conducted, it is increasingly clear that we should practice social distancing and practice it early. “Social distancing can reduce the spread of COVID-19 significantly.”
The GCCI recognizes that this is not a normal situation and thus, it requires abnormal solutions until we can gain control of the spread of the disease. The Chamber revealed that it remains willing as ever to work with the authorities to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

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