THE Guyana Police Force is set to ‘stringently enforce’ an array of emergency measures, including a nighttime curfew, which were put in place by the authorities three weeks ago to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

Noting that it will continue to enforce any breach of the orders as published in the orders highlighted in the list of emergency measures, the police on Saturday republished the list of emergency measures which were implemented by the National COVID-19 Task Force.
The police reminded the populace of an active 18:00 hours to 06:00 hours curfew which makes provisions for the operations of essential services on a 24-hour basis. Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence, confirmed that telecommunications and media are considered “essential services”.

The police noted that the measures highlight the need for social distancing protocols for those services which will continue to operate during this period.

“With these emergency measures now published, all curfews or measures taken by town councils and village/community leaders and others are revoked except those made by the ministers responsible for education, civil aviation, maritime, immigration and finance,” the police said.

Since the implementation of the month-long lockdown measures on April 3, 2020, there has been scant adherence to the law. Members of the public have not been adhering to curfew and this is evident as many motorists continue to operate on the country’s roadways after the 18:00 hours cut off time.

The Guyana Chronicle reported on Saturday that a number of vehicular accidents, some of which were fatal, occurred during the curfew period. Since the implementation of the curfew, there were five road accidents, in which six persons lost their lives.

A recent accident along the Pomeroon River occurred sometime after 21:00 hours, hours into the curfew period.

In addition, Guyanese have been gathering in large numbers outside commercial banks as well as at popular hangout spots within Georgetown and its environs without paying little head to social distancing measures.

On the brighter side, many business in the city have made it mandatory for customers to enter the place of business with a mask. In addition, some business entities have installed sinks with running water and soap on the outskirts of their businesses for customers. At least one pharmacy in Middle Street has placed stickers, lined six feet apart for customers to wait their turn before entering the business entity.