NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Former Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, the member of Parliament for Killarney, yesterday insisted that allowing a Carnival to operate is “very, very dangerous at this time”, particularly because of potentially young attendees who remain unvaccinated.
He said he was “amazed” and had “great concern” to see the carnival site being set up, and called on Minister of Health Dr. Michael Darville to explain whether or not the Ministry of Health gave approval and whether the health experts gave recommendations on the matter.
“Carnivals are very, very dangerous at this time, especially [because] the individuals that are using the facility are the young population, that’s the non-vaccinated group,” he said on a point of order in the House.
“Even in first-world countries where they are utilizing or allowing carnivals to proceed, they’re using simulators to make decisions, and those simulators are based on 70 percent vaccination rate.”
Minnis stressed that among the younger population., the vaccination rate is extremely low – less than 20 percent.
Vaccination is available for anyone aged 12 and up.
“I find it very difficult under these circumstances with such a virulent virus rampant now throughout the world that they would approval such an activity at this particular point in time,” he added.
He suggested there was a breach of protocols of some sort to even allow the equipment in through customs without final approval.
In response, Darville said any event under the new health rules that requires gatherings of any sort goes to a committee at the Ministry of Health.
He said the carnival has been an event that has been back and forth to ensure they met the necessary requirements.
“At the time of our break, there was no final approval for the carnival in The Bahamas,” said Darville, in reference to Parliament’s break at 1pm.
“There was a conditional requirement that needed to come to the committee in order for the final decision to be made.
“I am unaware if those requirements arrived to the committee as we speak.
“I am aware of the fact that there is some additional requirements that are necessary for any final approval.”
Eyewitness News reported this week that the operators of Christmas Carnival had begun laying out equipment and material for the reopening of the holiday amusement park though the green light from the government had not been given.
Those operations have continued.
On Clifford Park, several rides, including a roller coaster, have been erected, along with numerous smaller attractions and tents.
On Tuesday, Darville said that while the operators have all the preliminary applications in place, the committee with purview for the event had not made a final decision.
Earlier this month, Midways by McCafferty Enterprises, the operators of the carnival, announced their plans to return to The Bahamas for Christmas via a Facebook post.
The carnival was not permitted to be set up around this time last year due to ongoing concerns about the spread of the Delta variant and the public health risk with large gatherings.
At the time, there were 7,500 cases of COVID-19.
That figure has since nearly tripled, with more than 22,000 cases of COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic.
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