By Caribbean News Global contributor
CASTRIES, St Lucia – On Thursday, February 17, the Saint Lucia Government Gazette instructed the public of new COVID-19 confinement adjustments, that expires on March 4, 2022. The following documents are published with and form part of this Extraordinary Gazette.
The Statutory Instruments are:
No. 17 of 2022 — COVID-19 (Prevention and Control) (Physical Distancing) (No. 3) Order.
No. 18 of 2022 — COVID-19 (Prevention and Control) (Prohibition of Assembly) (No. 3) Order.
The minister responsible for health, Moses Jn. Baptiste, on the recommendation of the Chief Medical Officer (CMO), makes the following ‘Order’, which reads, in part:
Citation and commencement
- This Order may be cited as the COVID-19 (Prevention and Control) (Physical Distancing) (No. 3) Order, 2022.
- This Order comes into force on the 19th day of February, 2022.
Interpretation
2) In this Order, “fully vaccinated” means that two weeks have passed since a person received
(a) a single-dose vaccine, such as Johnson & Johnson;
(b) the second dose in a two-dose series of Astrazeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna; or
(c) another COVID-19 vaccine approved by the minister on the advice of the chief medical officer.
Purpose
The purpose of this Order is to impose physical distancing on individuals within the entire country in the interest of public health. […]
Confinement to residence
1) In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, a person shall remain confined to their place of residence to avoid contact outside of their family from 12 a.m. to 4 a.m. on each day.
2) Subsection (1) does not prevent —
(a) travel to the hospital, work by essential service workers or a place by a person authorized by the National Emergency Management Organization; or (b) outdoor exercise, whether alone or together with family members living under the same roof.
3) In this section, “residence” includes the enclosed yard space of the person’s home.
Expiry
This Order expires on the 4th day of March, 2022.
In addition, the power conferred under section 16 of the COVID-19 (Prevention and Control) Act, No. 9 of 2020, the minister responsible for health, on the recommendation of the CMO ‘Order’:
Citation and commencement
1) This Order may be cited as the COVID-19 (Prevention and Control) (Prohibition of Assembly) (No. 3) Order, 2022.
2) This Order comes into force on the 19th day of February, 2022.
Purpose
The purpose of this Order is to prohibit the assembly of two or more persons in a public place or in an area specified in this Order in the interest of public health. […]
Restriction on loud music
1) A person shall not play loud music, in accordance with the
Criminal Code, Cap. 3.01, for the duration of this Order.
2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) shall be prosecuted under the Criminal Code, Cap. 3.01.
Expiry
This Order expires on the 4th day of March, 2022.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, February 17, 2022, the ministry of health, confirmed 45 new cases of COVID-19.
“This brings the number of active cases in the country to date to 1, 121. Currently, there are 22 positive cases of COVID-19 admitted at the respiratory hospital and one of them is in critical care. To date, the total number of COVID-19 deaths in the country is 267 and the total number of COVID-19 related deaths is 87.
“To date, a total of 51, 991 individuals have been fully vaccinated. Another 5, 760 are partially vaccinated and 6, 626 have received their booster shot,” reads the government report.
