“There are people that are going to look at this and decide they won’t come right now, but we find that a lot of travel takes place nonetheless”
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Tourism Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar said yesterday that the country must “double down” on its efforts to curb the third wave of COVID-19 in the country, acknowledging that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) level four health notice on The Bahamas was certainly not a “bright spot” in the tourism industry’s attempted rebound.
The CDC has advised against travel to The Bahamas, moving this nation from a level three health notice to a more serious level four.
In its notice, the CDC warned that COVID-19 levels in The Bahamas are “very high”.
D’Aguilar said: “The downgrade is not a bright spot and we have to double our efforts to ensure it doesn’t mushroom into something greater and more concerning.”
He added: “I think that the segment of tourism impacted by these reports are primarily groups; they do a lot of research before they come.
“There are people that are going to look at this and decide they won’t come right now, but we find that a lot of travel takes place nonetheless. It is deeply concerning but we have [to] double down and arrest what people are referring to as a third wave.”
Total confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country up to Sunday stood at 9,791, with 468 being active cases. The Ministry of Health on Sunday recorded 55 new cases of COVID-19, adding to the 565 cases recorded this month.
D’Aguilar continued: “It’s obviously very concerning, though not unexpected. Everyone has been seeing the daily reports by the Ministry of Health and noticed an uptick in the number of positive cases based on the number of tests performed.
“Every day, the number of positive cases and people in hospital are increasing. I’m not surprised but I am deeply concerned.”
He added: “We have to double our efforts to eliminate this community spread. An element of fatigue has begun to set in where we are not being as vigilant as we might have been at the outset. We must double our efforts in order to social distance, wash our hands and wear our masks as much as possible in order to arrest what is a deeply concerning movement in the wrong direction.”
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