Barbados: Entertainment & sports events to be organised under COVID protocols

Bridgetown, Barbados: The government announced to lift the ban from the entertainment events following a decline in the COVID-19 infection rate. Speaking during the press briefing, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley made the remark. 

A nod also has been given by the government to organize sports events under COVID-19 measures. 

The decision was made on call of the Barbados Association of Event Professionals (BAEP) on Tuesday. The organization highlighted that the industry needs a lift at this crucial time. 

“The convenient removal and adjustment of the curfew to accommodate government functions were discriminatory.” the organization asserted. 

The new measure will be coming into effect from December 17, 2021. Chief medical officer Dr Kenneth George noted that the event organizers need to get approval for outdoor or open-air events & large gatherings from the COVID-19 Monitoring Unit and the National Cultural Foundation (NCF) will provide guidance regarding the number of patrons that can be accommodated.  

CMO furthermore informed all the artists and production staff who would be going on the stage, including the ones who would be helpers backstage, are needed to present a negative rapid antigen test and be fully inoculated to work behind and on stage.  

The government has also made a mandate to present either a negative rapid antigen test 24 hours before the event or be fully inoculate for the people attending the event. 

CMO cited, “The objective is to try to create an environment where the transmission of COVID-19 is either non-existent or limited“. 

While speaking on the amendments on worship places, he cited, “At this point in time, we are not asking that for you to enter a church, you be tested. You either do six feet distancing, or if you want more people within a particular space, it should be three feet distancing with masks, with the caveat that 70 per cent of the population within the faith-based organization is vaccinated”.