Staging of carnival risky – Tufton
Published:Friday | March 13, 2020 | 12:00 AMYasmine Peru/Senior Gleaner Writer
With thousands of revellers locally and overseas eagerly anticipating the 2020 staging of carnival in Jamaica, the advent of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the island has seen a huge question sign now hanging over the event. The Government on Wednesday announced a 14-day ban on all gatherings and also revealed that all permits for events taking place during that time period would be revoked. “No event permit will be issued over the next 14 days. We encourage limited gatherings and maintaining established protocols for social distance,” Prime Minster Andrew Holness urged.
While many promoters have cancelled or postponed events scheduled for that time, those who fall outside of that net have been advertising full speed ahead. However, Minister of Health, Christopher Tufton, at a Gleaner Editors’ Forum yesterday, offered more than a word of caution to such promoters. He said that they should “not feel comfortable”. The minister added that there is still much discussion ongoing, and broadly hinted at the possibility that the 14-day embargo would be extended.
Quizzed specifically about the upcoming carnival event, which takes place from Thursday, April 16, to Sunday, April 19, and which involves a huge street parade on the Sunday, Minister Tufton said, after a bit of reflection, “Carnival is risky.” He revealed that he and his team have been in discussion with the carnival organisers and have explained to them the implications.
On Tuesday, the organisers of the three carnival groups, Bacchanal Jamaica, Xaymaca International, and Xodus Carnival, released a joint message about the staging of this year’s event. They stated that while they are “concerned about the impact and are committed to doing our part to minimise the spread of this virus”, the party is still on.
“Today, Jamaica’s Minister of Health confirmed Jamaica’s first case of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Like all global citizens, we are concerned about the impact and are committed to doing our part to minimise the spread of this virus. At this time, we continue to consult with the Government about precautions to be adopted over the next few months and the implications for the entire entertainment and tourism industries. We assure our masqueraders that we remain in full execution mode and are optimistic that Jamaica will be able to minimise the effects on our people and visitors in the near term,” the carnival organisers said.