Oranjestad, St. Eustatius- The Public Entity of St. Eustatius will scrap the curfew as of Thursday night and will also ease other measures that were taken 3 weeks ago to further prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The Public Health Department no longer sees reason to extend the curfew, now that the situation regarding Covid-19 is contained. This means that bars, restaurants and casinos can reopen their doors; however a maximum of 15 people are allowed to be inside.

Other businesses can now reopen as well, such as nail salons, barbershops and hair salons. Schools, day care centers and out-of- school organizations will remain closed until after the October school break. Some organizations have special protocols in place to accommodate students who need extra care and support on location.

Essential business

Essential businesses such as the supermarkets, the pharmacy, the hospital, the airport, the harbor, GTI, construction sites are allowed to be open with the usual opening hours.  The current Emergency Ordinance nr. 13 expires Thursday October 1st at midnight. The new Emergency Ordinance no 14 referring to relaxed measures will immediately take effect on Friday October 2^nd.  

Under control

The reason to relax the measures, according the Government of Statia, is that the situation related to COVID-19 is at the moment under control. Statia has currently 9 positive cases. These persons are all in isolation. Some pending tests results came in on Thursday and were negative. Also, the request for immediate medical assistance from the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports (VWS) in the Netherlands was granted. Queen Beatrice Medical Centre (QMBC) now has sufficient general practitioners, doctors, nurses and lab technicians and most of them will be able to work soon.

Balance

The Government said that with the easing of measures, the Public Entity of St. Euststius was a balance between public health, social life and the continuation of economic life. Social distancing of 1.5 meter should however be strictly adhered to, hygienic measures are still very important and the Public Entity strongly advises each and every one to wear a face-mask at least in public space and when in close contact with people outside your household.

“While the situation is under control, Statian residents are asked not to let their guard down. COVID is still present in the world and will be for some time. We each have an individual as well as a collective responsibility to do our part in the fight against COVID’, said Government Commissioner Marnix van Rij.

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