The (resigned) government announced that the safety measures will be lessened seeing as how the number of active cases, while still high, is at 590 and lessening. On the 21st of august, some measures were introduced to ensure the situation at the hospital does not get any worse. That is why the safety measures, that went in until the start of September.
After the number of COVID-19 cases increased, over a thousand people went to get their first vaccine shot. The number of deaths for the month of August is 46, which is alarmingly high. The majority of these deaths were people who had not yet been vaccinated, while those who were vaccinated suffered from underlying health issues. According to Prime Minister Evelyn Wever-Croes, some of the more extreme safety measures were lessened, which will go into effect on the second of September.
The Prime Minister reacted to SKOA’s statement that the schools under their reign will not be opening. On the 21st of August when the new measures were introduced, Wever-Croes announced that schools were going to open on the 1st of September. That is why she told the minister of education to come to an agreement with SKOA in order to not jeopardize our children’s education.
The chief of the department of infectious diseases, Sharline Koolman informed us that she has been holding meetings for the past two days in order to discuss various points regarding COVID-19. Different numbers have the tendency to decrease, but we have to keep into account that they are not decreasing where we want them to the most. The positivity rate is still high, even though people are not testing as their ought to. It is believed that this is caused by the vaccine and that those who have it think that they no longer need to test. The DELTA variant is strong, and therefore some measures have to remain active.
The Crisis Team asks that we lower to code orange and that some measures be removed. Some of the changes include:
· Businesses that offer inside and outdoor seating: a maximum of 6 people are permitted to sit per table
· Social gatherings/events at home: when holding a party, for example, a wedding, there will be 90 people permitted to attend. As long as the social distance of 1.5 meters is able to be maintained
· Sport: the public is allowed back during training, but a maximum of 90 people is permitted
· Entertainment: entertainment is allowed and a maximum of 5 people are allowed on stage. Dancing is still not allowed
· Funerals: condoling is permitted
· Facemask: the use of facemasks remains
High commissioner, Vanessa Kock indicated that there will be a change in the gathering ban from four to six. She also stated that the area prohibition and the alcohol ban remain. Closing hours will change from 9:00 pm to 12:00 am. As for the curfew, according to Kock, it will be removed this coming Thursday.
