Our territory reverted back to the Stay at Home phase and began a two-week lock-down of non-essential businesses today. According to Governor Bryan, this decision was necessary to protect the health and safety of our community to stop and slow the spread of COVID-19.
The Governor spent much of the press conference reiterating the policies set forth at last Thursday’s press conference regarding the two-week Stay at Home phase, and the 30-day ban on guests checking into hotels, airbnbs, villas, and guest houses, which begins Wednesday, August 19, 2020. If you missed it, you can read the entire summary here.
Beaches will remain open during regular hours during the week, and weekends and holidays from 6:00 am to 12:00 pm. The Governor stressed that he does not want to close the beaches entirely, but will do so if he feels it becomes necessary. If you elect to go to the beach during the Stay at Home phase, he requests that you take a quick dip and return home thereafter.
Also beginning today, in light of the controversy over the current policy requiring all restaurants to use only disposable dishware, the government will begin inspections – either by request of the restaurant or by incidental inspection – of all of our restaurants’ sanitation processes regarding dishes, glassware, and utensils. If a particular restaurant meets all of the requirements and is equipped with a high temperature dishwasher that satisfies the level of sanitizing required to kill the virus, they will immediately be granted a certification to resume the use of non-disposable tablewear.
Deputy Commissioner of the Virgin Islands Department of Health, Janis Valmond, reminds everyone to follow the guidelines set forth by the USVI Department of Health and the CDC. Beyond hand-washing, mask wearing, sanitizing, and social distancing, remember to stay hydrated, practice healthy habits to cope with stress, exercise, rest, be current with vaccinations and immunizations, and stay home.
“We are VI Strong,” said Commissioner Valmond. “We can do this together.”
Here are the USVI statistics for today:
* The USVI’s weekly average of new cases per day is 39 per 100K.
* That is the highest in the US (TX is 2nd with 30.)
* That represents a 103% increase over the last week.
*The trend is still sharply up. It has not peaked. (About three weeks ago. the number was about 7 per 100K)
*At least, 213 positive results in the last week. (Remember, many non-symptomatic cases are never tested but can still spread the virus.)
This is a dangerous situation and the restrictions are reasonable and have been shown to be effective.
Please “Stay Positive and Test Negative.” I want to come back and visit soon.