Tread carefully in granting amusement licences - Lucea mayor
Published:Saturday | May 21, 2022 | 12:05 AMBryan Miller/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
WITH THE island now into its fifth wave of COVID-19, municipal and health officials in Hanover are now directing their attention towards amusement events as a means of assisting in controlling the spread of the virus in the parish.
Medical Officer of Health (MOH) for the parish, Dr Kaushal Singh, continues to implore residents to follow health protocols of wearing masks, social distancing, regular sanitisation, along with getting vaccinated.
In the meantime, mayor of Lucea and chairman of the Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC), Sheridan Samuels, argues that the HMC should adopt a more vigilant attitude with regards to the approval of amusement licence applications that are sent to the corporation for approval.
Records show that since January 2022, approximately 68 applications have been submitted to the HMC for approval; four in January, one in February, six in March, 26 in April, and 31 for May, up to the time of the meeting.
“I know this is an administrative and internal matter, but as it relates to amusement licences, we have to be careful in the way we go about issuing these amusement licences,” Samuels cautioned.
“We have to carefully go out there and look on the type of events that are planned, and the venues, before we actually give out these licences. So that is a discussions that we will have in a different forum,” Samuels stated at the May monthly meeting of the corporation.
He said that he is aware of a lot of functions taking place across the parish, many of them being advertised on social media, while expressing the view that many of the promoters are not going through the proper channels to get approval.
“There are a lot of different functions taking place, with music playing all over the place, so we really have to get vigilant as it relates to these functions that are taking place,” Samuels emphasised.
Singh argued that even though mask-wearing is no longer compulsory, persons should continue wearing a mask whenever they are in groups.
“(The) COVID-19 situation in the parish of Hanover (is) if you compare last month (April) with this month (May), we have 88 per cent increase in the number of new cases. In April, we are up to 129 new cases. Our summation is that we do not have many serious cases right now, but the figure is inching up,” the MoH stated.
He said that a number of healthcare workers are getting tired, and some sick, adding that fortunately the Hanover Health Department is not overwhelmed by the COVID-19 situation up to now.
“It is not for lack of sensitisation. The message is out there in all different forms but I am asking persons, if you see somebody in any grouping without a mask, just ask them to put one on,” Singh advised as he urged persons to get vaccinated.
He said if the situation of the increasing infection rate continues and residents “let their guard down”, it can create a very difficult situation for the health services in Hanover.
Although not giving any figures, Singh stated that there has been a slight increase in the take-up of the COVID-19 vaccines within the parish for the March into April period, adding that a take-up of the vaccine by a higher percentage of the total population of the parish would be more ideal.
“I urge the population to take the vaccine and follow the protocols,” he emphasised.