CBC NewsNight Special: COVID-19 Stage 3 [ March 27 2020 ]

CBC NewsNight Special: COVID-19 Stage 3 [ March 27 2020 ]

Posted by Barbados Government Information Service on Friday, March 27, 2020
Attorney General Dale Marshall gave an update on COVID-19 Stage 3 protocols during the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation’s News Night Special. (CBC)

Attorney General Dale Marshall has condemned the actions of persons who were asked to self quarantine, but have been breaching the requirements and going out.

Noting that it was a practice that endangered the lives of others, he stated that it was “irresponsible for any person who has been given the opportunity of being self quarantined to be so callous about other people’s health”.

He made this point during the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation’s News Night Special on COVID-19 Stage 3 protocols last night.

Mr. Marshall, also Minister of Legal Affairs, said: “I have had reports of individuals who were asked to self quarantine, who’ve been going about various places. I have a report that a person who was asked to self quarantine showed up at court.”

But, he warned, such actions could result in offenders being placed in mandatory quarantine, or facing the penalties under the law.  The penalty is a fine of $5,000, or one year in prison, for breaching the quarantine requirements.

Mr. Marshall stressed that being able to self quarantine was a privilege, which people were misusing.

He explained that some were allowed to do so because Government in part had not yet fully built out its quarantine facilities, and because of international protocols, which allowed persons not showing symptoms to remain at home and be checked regularly by health professionals.

However, he noted that in light of reports where people were supposed to be in self quarantine “going out and about” the island’s legislative mechanism would seek to ensure that there was lawful authority to impose a mandatory quarantine on such persons.

“The Chief Medical Officer has always had that responsibility, but we are importing it into this current regime, so that we have the lawful authority to put you in a quarantine facility,” the Attorney General stated.

julia.rawlins-bentham@barbados.gov.bb

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