Sint Maarten scales back nightlife hours
Sint Maarten's Minister of Public Health, Social Development, and Labour, Omar Ottley, has announced that by his COVID-19 phased approach for nightlife, business hours will be scaled back to 1 am.
The phased approach is based on the hospital's occupancy rate and capacity to avoid a possible collapse of Sint Maarten's health care system while maintaining a balance of economic activity on the island.
As of January 4, according to Sint Maarten's COVID-19 dashboard, the island has 828 active cases.
The Ministerial Regulation goes into effect on January 5, 2022, understanding that all nightlife establishments must be closed by 1 am on January 6.
The following is the Ministry's phased approach for nightlife:
Phase 1:
- 4 - 7 hospitalizations (20 per cent), scale back to 1 am. If hospitalization should later decrease to less than four, for two weeks, then the time would be reverted.
Phase 2:
- Eight or more hospitalizations (40 per cent), scale back to 11 pm. If hospitalizations decreased to less than eight, for two weeks, the time would be adjusted accordingly.
The Ministry notes evidence has mounted that the Omicron variant is highly transmissible. It is far more infectious than the previous variants and is predominant worldwide. As the WHO notes, "vaccines are likely to have some effectiveness against Omicron, particularly for persons with a severe disease, even if the performance is reduced compared with other variants."
The Minister advises everyone to take personal responsibility for their health and loved ones by adhering to the COVID-19 preventative health measures.
In addition, physical distancing, indoor ventilating spaces, hand hygiene, avoiding crowds, and reducing one's number of social contacts can also help control the transmission of the more transmissible Omicron variant.
"Please get vaccinated if you have not done so, and if you have been double vaccinated, get your booster."
The Minister also advises all persons who obtain a positive result from a self-test to isolate themselves immediately.
He said there are too many complaints of persons testing positive and still reporting to work or interacting with others.
Ottley said: "This causes an extremely negative domino effect on the country's COVID-19 statistics and can lead to possible hospitalization of others around you."
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