Consultant warns more lockdowns would be “death by a thousand cuts” for businesses
PM: Bahamas likely in for “very difficult one or two months ahead”
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Returning to lockdowns would be “death by a thousand cuts for small businesses”, a local consultant said yesterday, expressing relief after Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis announced that border shutdowns and nationwide lockdowns are “off the table”.
Mark A Turnquest, president of the 242 Small Business Association and Resource Centre, told Eyewitness News: “We can’t afford any more lockdowns. We just have to take this virus seriously and follow the protocols.
“We are grateful that the prime minister doesn’t appear to be inclined to implementing any curfews or lockdowns. That would have been death by a thousand cuts.”
We can’t handle any more lockdowns because that would destroy the economy.
– 242 Small Business Association President Mark A Turnquest
During an address yesterday, Davis acknowledged that the country is likely in for “a very difficult one or two months ahead”.
“As everyone knows by now, the two strains of COVID that are circulating, delta and omicron, are very, very contagious — omicron even more so than delta, which was already many times more transmissible than the original COVID virus strain,” said Davis.
“I am in constant touch with our health team — I know you heard from them yesterday in a press conference — as we follow and examine data from around the world and use it to make the best policy decisions possible here.
“As the virus changes, we need to stay flexible and we need to stay in the fight together.”
He added: “Our economic crisis has been so prolonged and so severe that I am not considering any serious shutdown of economic activity.
“As I’ve said, many Bahamians are earning their first steady paycheques in a long time; many fragile, small Bahamian-owned businesses are just starting to recover; and, as a country, we are taking important steps to economic recovery.
“So, blunt instruments like shutting our borders or prolonged, nationwide lockdowns are off the table.
“Instead, our COVID policy is focused on giving Bahamians support to reduce their risks and on expanding our hospital capacity to accommodate any increase in hospitalizations.”
Turnquest told Eyewitness News that no lockdowns or curfews was good news for small businesses, noting that many of his clients in the clothing and electronic retail segments performed better than expected over the Christmas period.
“A lot of my clients saw good sales this past Christmas. It was not up to 2019 levels but far better than 2020,” said Turnquest.
“We can’t handle any more lockdowns because that would destroy the economy.
“It’s one thing to have to deal with the normal cost of doing business with fixed costs like rent and salaries, but having to deal with lockdowns and curfews is another issue.
“A lot of small businesses were able to bring on part-time staff over the holidays to satisfy the Christmas rush and that was a good sign.”
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