THE New Amsterdam Municipality has allowed the town’s lone market to remain open but has closed the recently-opened Kiddie’s Corner until further notice as it takes measures to fight the coronavirus.

Five Guyanese have been affected by the global pandemic.

While Kiddie’s Corner is closed, the adjoining Esplanade Recreational Park, an open space used for exercise and recreational purposes, will also remain open to the general public.

The benabs there are expected to be sanitised daily by the park’s attendants.

This announcement was made by Mayor, Winifred Haywood, along with her Deputy, Wainwright Mc Intosh, during a press briefing at the council chambers prior to a walk about at the market.

At the briefing, members of the local press corps were informed about the municipality’s preparedness to tackle the coronavirus.

Additionally, a 48-hour schedule has been timetabled for staff in keeping with national guidelines. However, while the municipality will be opened for business during 08:00 to 14:00hrs, the Treasurer’s Department will be opened until 13:00hrs during weekdays for financial transactions.

Further, the mayor was quick to dispel rumours of a forced closure of the municipal market.

“Persons were calling and asking whether we will be closing… we will not be closing down. It will operate as at regular time with Wednesday half days as usual,” he said.

However, during the walk about, the chief citizen and her deputy informed the public and the vendors of the importance of self-care while sharing guidelines of the Ministry of Public Health as well as the work of the council to keep the market clean.

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a new strain that was discovered in 2019.