Outdoor fetes and other social events will resume in Barbados but under strict protocols, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kenneth George announced on Wednesday.
He told a press conference that promoters will have to apply to the COVID Monitoring Unit, as well as the National Cultural Foundation, for permission to host any social event in Barbados, and patrons and promoters and performers would have to follow specific guidelines to participate in those events.
While Dr. George said promoters were free to only allow vaccinated patrons at their events, that would not be mandatory.
“For the promoters and the artistes and the people on stage who are actively involved in the production, both vaccination and a rapid antigen test will be required for entrance into that area,” the Chief Medical Officer explained.
“For patrons, it will either be that you are vaccinated, or come with a rapid antigen test 24 hours before that event.”
Organized sporting events will be accommodated with guidance from the Ministry of Health.
Churches and other places of worship have also been given permission to increase the maximum size of their indoor congregations, but only if 70 percent of congregants have been fully vaccinated.
In those cases, persons must observe social distancing of three feet. Otherwise, the current distance of six feet must be maintained.
“At this point in time, we are not asking for [people] to be tested to enter a church, so you either do six feet distancing, or if you want more people in a particular space, it should be three feet distancing with masks, with the caveat that 70 percent of your population within that space is vaccinated,” Dr George said.
Organised sporting events will also be accommodated under specific conditions.
Last month, Barbados also made concessions on their COVID-19 restrictions by adjusting curfew hours from 9PM (local time) to 12 midnight.
CMC
