Dames warns of consequences for not adhering to COVID emergency orders
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Minister of National Security Marvin Dames assured yesterday that law enforcement will remain vigilant amidst reintroduced travel restrictions, ensuring it will identify fake COVID-19 tests and monitor quarantine restrictions.
On Monday, the Office of the Prime Minister announced a rollback in travel restrictions that would now require fully vaccinated individuals and anyone older than two years old to obtain a negative COVID-19 test within five days of entering the country and/or within five days of traveling inter-island from New Providence, Grand Bahama, Bimini, Exuma, Abaco and North and South Eleuthera.
Speaking to reporters about the matter outside the Office of the Prime Minister, where Cabinet meetings have been relocated to, Dames said: “These are serious times. The actions that are being taken by the competent authority and this government is for the safety and security of The Bahamian people and all who visit this nation.
“I would say to all of those who feel that they want to do their own thing that there are consequences for that.”
Officials have previously been challenged in enforcing travel protocols, with multiple incidents of forged tests.
In June of this year, Dames outlined that there were 62 people — 27 men, 33 women, one juvenile female and one juvenile male — arrested with reference to fraudulent COVID-19 test results, and 52 people were convicted and fined a total of $117,500.
He said that during inter-island travels, airport ambassadors discovered 523 people who attempted to travel without proper documents and were denied by COVID ambassadors at their various checkpoints.
Asked whether he believes enough action is being taken to enforce the protocols, Dames said: “We’ve never been here before; we have to adjust as we see the trends move in different directions.
“That is what the world is doing. There is no playbook for this. We are working it as it goes.”
The Bahamas remains in a COVID surge after reaching another bleak milestone over the weekend as it surpassed 15,000 confirmed coronavirus cases.
Last month, Minister of Health Renward Wells said a rise in infections has been the norm following major holiday celebrations and that the healthcare sector continues to be strained.
When pressed on the level of compliance of individuals who were exposed to the virus and placed in quarantine, Dames noted that the government is looking into “improved technology” to be able to keep track of those individuals.
“Technology continues to improve in this area and so we are just looking at the best technology to ensure we are able to keep track of those person who are supposed to be in quarantine and continue to ignore the order,” he said.
During his national address last week, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis revealed that a new geofencing application will be introduced to replace the Hubbcat system in order to monitor people who should be in quarantine.
Loading ...
