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More compliance being observed in certain sectors – COVID-19 Task Force Director
Director of the Task Force’s Secretariat, Colonel Nazrul Hussain.
Kaieteur News – The Director of the National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF)’s Secretariat, Colonel Nazrul Hussain, has stated that increased compliance with the gazetted COVID-19 measures has been observed in certain sectors of Guyana, while there are cases of decreases in others.
Speaking with Kaieteur News recently, he noted that a portion of businesses have been complying with the measures well. He revealed too, that the Task Force has been carrying out regular enforcement exercises to ensure people are complying with the measures, and in the case of breaches, businesses are issued with warning letters and sometimes notices of closure. The NCTF’s Director had earlier told this publication that the Task Force has the power to withdraw the licence of any business found breaching the COVID-19 measures. He noted too that enforcement is not limited to a particular set of businesses.
As he spoke of the enforcement work of the Task Force, Hussain stated that local laboratories and hospitals are not exempted from the consequences of breaches. From last year to date, over 100 businesses would have been served with warning letters for breaches and even as some measures have been relaxed, the Task Force is still ensuring there is maximum compliance, Hussain said.
Businesses would have recently benefitted from the government’s lifting of the prohibition on indoor dining and the reopening of bars both at a 40 percent capacity. Adding to that, even with limited capacity, the six feet spacing is still mandated as well as other sanitary protocols. The Guyana Tourism Authority was handed the responsibility of ensuring that the establishments that have been granted approval for reopening, comply and that they place the number of persons considered to be 40 percent on their doors.
At a recent briefing, President Irfaan Ali thought it necessary to highlight that managing enforcement is not an easy task. In fact he said that while the authorities have been doing a good job in most instances, enforcement is not only removing people, it is also education, the distribution of masks and getting people to understand in a soft manner.
“Sometimes when you pass on the seawalls and in other crowded areas you wonder what is taking place. The question is, well as Dr. Anthony says, you wonder sometimes whether if people understand we are living in a COVID-19 environment,” the President had stated.
“Do we take in 500 persons on the seawalls? Or go through Stabroek Market or Bourda Market where we get calls all the time or even some establishments and remove everyone from the market,” he added.
Ali maintained, “We have to be realistic” because when the authorities pick up persons you have to find somewhere to put them. As it relates to imprisonment, he said that they have to keep prisoners safe, since prisons are high-risk areas for infection.
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