COVID RULES ARE FOR ALL: Pintard blasts PM for ‘irresponsible behavior’ over quarantine break admission

Former health minister: The honorable thing for the PM to do is resign

OPM hits back; says PM’s quarantine was voluntary and there was no breach

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Opposition Leader Michael Pintard yesterday blasted Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis for his recent public admission to breaking the COVID-19 quarantine law, calling the actions “irresponsible”.

Pintard, in a statement yesterday, said: “It is a very serious offense for the head of a government to breach laws that he has a legal obligation to uphold.

“This irresponsible behavior by the prime minister undermines both his and his government’s moral authority to compel the public to follow laws that he has willfully chosen to ignore.

“This is another example of the less-than-serious attitude of the government in promoting and upholding health protocols to contain and reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the population.”

Pintard added: “This is made worse by the government’s failure to adequately promote and encourage citizens to become vaccinated and boosted against the disease.

“The prime minister’s action could have a serious negative impact and greatly set back the country’s fight against the spread of COVID-19.”

Pintard noted that just this week, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Level 4 travel advisory for The Bahamas, advising Americans not to travel to The Bahamas because of what it described as rampant spread of the virus.

“There must not be one law for the Bahamian citizen and another law for the leader,” said Pintard.

“Law-abiding citizens may justifiably question whether this prime minister has the moral authority to lead the charge in the midst of COVID.”

Davis admitted at a memorial service for the murdered husband of former Cabinet Minister Melanie Griffin on Thursday that he broke quarantine to pay for Christmas gifts at Leon Griffin’s store not long before Griffin was shot dead outside his Winton home.

The prime minister is fully vaccinated and has taken the booster shot, and at the time said he took multiple COVID tests that all came back negative.

But at the time, the mandated quarantine period for people exposed to COVID-19 was 14 days.

According to the Health Rules passed by the Davis administration in 2021, breaking quarantine is an offense that carries a fine of $500.

However, the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), in a statement issued last evening on the issue, asserted that at no time did Davis breach COVID-19 quarantine regulations.

“As Christmas approached, Prime Minister Philip Davis was informed that he had been exposed to persons who had tested positive for COVID,” the OPM statement read.

“Between the 22nd and the 24th of December, he took three COVID tests — two PCR and one antigen — all of which were negative.

“Because the prime minister has had two vaccine shots and a booster shot, in addition to a prior infection, and because he had multiple negative test results, he was informed he posed little transmission risk.”

The statement added: “At no time did the prime minister breach the regulations in the HEALTH SERVICES (COVID 19)(PREVENTION AND MANAGEMENT OF COMMUNITY SPREAD) RULES, 2021.

“The prime minister was not ordered into quarantine by a medical officer, as described in Article 19 of HEALTH SERVICES (COVID 19)(PREVENTION AND MANAGEMENT OF COMMUNITY SPREAD) RULES, 2021.”

Ahead of that statement being released, former Elizabeth MP Dr Duane Sands, who once served as health minister under the Minnis administration, spoke on the issue to Eyewitness News.

“I think we should all be concerned. This is not an insignificant issue,” he said.

The rules broken by our prime minister are rules he set and expected the rest of the country to follow… What type of example is this setting for the rest of the country?

– Former Minister of Health Dr Duane Sands

“We have looked at the scenario in Great Britain, where the prime minister is under fire for hosting a bring-your-own-drink so-called meeting when the rest of the country was subjected to stringent rules.

“The rules broken by our prime minister are rules he set and expected the rest of the country to follow.

“What is amazing is we have seen a massive surge of COVID in The Bahamas. This wave is progressing mercilessly…

“What type of example is this setting for the rest of the country?

“We are already seeing a horrible increase in crime and if the lawmakers are lawbreakers, what should members of the population do?”

Sands, who resigned as health minister over an admitted breach of COVID protocols just months after the pandemic began in 2020, added: “At the very least, he owes an apology to the people of The Bahamas and [should] pay the fine but perhaps the honorable thing to do should be to resign.”