Wide-open lockdown

Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh - Ministry of Health
Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh - Ministry of Health

THE LIST published this week of retail establishments permitted to remain open under the current covid19 restrictions is far too wide to be of any meaningful effect in the current crisis.

Not only are the latest regulations signed off by the Cabinet confusing, they seem to be at odds with the urgency of the situation as outlined by the Prime Minister and his medical advisers on Monday. They also do not chime well with the devastating figures being published daily and the mounting death toll.

The regulations, which were issued in the name of Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh but also distributed by the Office of the Attorney General, contain in excess of 100 different categories of retail entities that are permitted to remain open.

The Government’s rationale is obviously to preserve as much commercial activity as possible, given the already devastating impact of the pandemic.

However, it was Dr Rowley himself who on Monday warned that a possible collapse of our healthcare system would be calamitous not only for sick people, but for the entire economy.

Having such a long list of exempt activities effectively renders hollow all that was said to the country on Monday, turning the seemingly definitive shutdown of all retail activity into a guessing game.

Part of the trouble in all of this is the way “retail” and “essential services” have at times been confused (into the mix we can add “essential products”). Indeed, the contents of the list suggest the legislative drafters desired a great deal of leeway in distinguishing between categories.

Legal Notice 131 includes straightforward retail categories such as supermarkets. But it also includes things like “retailers that support air transportation” and “retail energy services” such as “vegetation and traffic management.”

We are grateful to see retailers for newspapers and media houses appear on the list, given the obvious importance of the free press during a time like this.

It is also important for the law to be flexible enough so as to allow officials to adapt as the case may be.

But it is clear that the expansive nature of the list has left a lot of room for doubt and for inconsistent enforcement. Confusion and uncertainty also render the law liable to challenge.

Most importantly, however, the list is hard to justify when considered against the backdrop of the record-breaking numbers that continue to come in daily.

In the space of 24 hours this week, 399 cases were reported.

Last Friday, 326 new cases had been recorded, followed by 248 on Saturday and 241 on Sunday. The figure then dropped to 158 on Monday before yet another increase as it jumped to 235 cases on Tuesday.

These numbers tell a stark, severe tale which the latest, rambling regulations do not.

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