Test all Carnival visitors to country

THE EDITOR: Open letter to Prime Minister Rowley.

I was glad when you held a national press conference on January 12 to discuss updates on covid19. It is noted that covid19 cases are rising again and we now have the XBB variant that can cause some trouble. Carnival is fast approaching and a lot of tourists would be visiting our country. Could you kindly and urgently put measures in place to protect our citizens, please?

I kindly suggest that every single visitor coming into the country be tested for covid19 as soon as possible.

It is understood that to postpone Carnival now would be a mammoth task and would result in losses in the millions. However, please take note that no one in this country wants another lockdown.

While we can be a forgiving people, perhaps too forgiving, we are not going to accept any sad stories after Carnival from your administration and for our rights to be taken away again.

During the lockdowns, we the citizens saw clear disparities between the haves and have-nots. We saw unfairness when it came to who was able to sell packaged food as well as noting that bars remained open while places of worship were closed or limited to an hour's service, which made no sense whatsoever. We the people do not want to hear any "chupidness," we really don’t.

Please test the visitors. It is noted that Guyana has imposed travel restrictions on passengers from China and the same should be done here. Everyone who went to China recently should be tested or must provide a negative covid19 test upon entry.

J ALI

Port of Spain