NATIONAL ADDRESS COVID - 19 Update The Most Hon. Dr. Hubert Minnis Prime Minister Sunday, 3 May 2020
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NATIONAL ADDRESS
COVID – 19 Update
The Most Hon. Dr. Hubert Minnis
Prime Minister
Sunday, 3 May 2020
1My Fellow Bahamians and Residents:
Good aftternoon.
We are making progress in our fight
against the COVID -19 virus.
The measures we have put in place to
stem the outbreak are working.
But we cannot as a country let down our
guard.
There is still much work to be done in the
weeks and months ahead.
2The 24-hour curfew from Monday 5am to
Friday 9pm will continue as will the
lockdowns from Friday 9pm to Monday 5am.
We have to continue to wear our masks
to practice physical distancing as well as to
wash our hands thoroughly along with other
measures.
To date, there remain 83 confirmed
cases of COVID-19 in The Bahamas.
3This includes 67 in New Providence, 7 in
Grand Bahama, 8 in Bimini and 1 in Cat
Cay.
The Ministry of Health has reported no
new confirmed cases of COVID -19 today.
Because of the progress we are making,
I am pleased to announce that effective
tomorrow, May 4th, we will move to Phase 1b
in the reopening of our economy.
4This portion of phase 1 focuses on
delivery and curbside service and
construction.
This phased re-opening is aimed at
striking the right balance between permitting
some further level of commerce to resume
while still maintaining a vigilant national
position promoting physical distancing and
reinforcing the health and safety precautions
necessary to mitigate community spread of
COVID-19.
5The objective of the first phase is to
stimulate businesses through economic
activity and to meet needs important to the
population during this health crisis.
Starting tomorrow:
Businesses that can provide goods and
services through delivery and curbside pick-
up will be able to do so Monday through
Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
6Construction on New Providence and
Grand Bahama will be allowed to operate
from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Home and hardware stores, plant
nurseries and auto parts stores may expand
to 5-day online delivery and curbside
services if they have the capacity.
This is in addition to the in-store days
those stores are currently allowed to
operate.
7For example, home and hardware stores
that are allowed to offer in-store services on
Wednesdays and Fridays, may now offer
delivery and curbside services Monday,
Tuesday and Thursday.
They may also offer delivery and
curbside services during their in-store
operating days.
Businesses must be able to demonstrate
existing capabilities to take orders by phone
or online and acknowledgement of receipt.
8Businesses should use gloves and other
protocols in handling and delivery of goods
and interaction with customers.
Proper physical distancing and sanitizing
measures must be practiced at all times.
I am pleased to announce that
construction will now be permitted on New
Providence and Grand Bahama with industry
protocols that cover transportation, the use
of Personal Protective Equipment, physical
9distancing, cleaning and disinfecting
protective measures and other measures.
These protocols were established in
conjunction with the Bahamas Chamber of
Commerce and the Bahamas Construction
Association.
Professional athletes will also be allowed
to resume training under Phase 1b.
Let me remind you of the health
guidelines utilized to determine the transition
from one phase to the next.
The criteria include:
10- The number of new cases over
specified time intervals together with
model predictions;
- The capacity of the health system to
respond to increased number of cases;
- The number and dispersion of contacts
of confirmed cases throughout the
archipelago;
- Identification of vulnerabilities in
congregate facilities, such as Her
Majesty’s Prison and long-stay
facilities; and
11- Adherence to existing restrictions.
These criteria are in tandem with the
strengthening of our health care capacity.
• The establishment of the South Beach
Clinic;
• Training and cross training of health
care providers;
• Enhanced training for patient care
technicians in infection control monitoring;
• Proposed training to increase the
number of certified respiratory therapists;
12• Mobile response teams to manage
outbreak situations;
• Adequate and appropriate use of
protective-equipment;
• The capacity to test those who carry the
disease; and
• Monitoring the use of research
materials to mitigate morbidity and mortality
in the COVID- 19 and post Dorian period.
The Government will regularly receive
reports on these criteria as we seek to keep
13the level of transmission low while we
gradually and safely reopen our economy.
Fellow Bahamians and Residents:
The phased plan for reopening our
economy and our islands is a guideline.
We will have to be flexible in the
application of the guidelines.
If advised by our health officials to do so
we may have to go back to certain
restrictions.
If we are making more progress we may
be able to ease certain restrictions quicker.
14The opening of various Family Islands
was set to begin in Phase Two.
But we have decided to gradually re-
open our Family Islands by zone, starting
tomorrow in the Southern Bahamas.
The following islands will be able to
resume normal commercial activity effective
Monday, May, 4th: Ragged Island, Rum Cay,
Mayaguana, Inagua, Crooked Island,
Acklins and Long Cay.
15Physical distancing and other safety
protocols must be practiced and will be
enforced at all times.
Border restrictions as it relates to the
travel of passengers in the Family Islands
remain except for emergency and other
circumstances which must be approved by
the Civil Aviation Authority.
However, residents of New Providence
who are currently in the islands just
16mentioned, will be allowed to return to New
Providence.
Curfew and lockdown measures remain
in effect for all Family Islands, including the
zones that have returned to normal
commercial activity.
Using guidelines provided by health
officials, other islands will be allowed to
resume commercial activity at the
appropriate time.
17Fellow Bahamians and Residents:
There was an incident last week involving
some residents who flew by private aircraft
to New Providence and brought COVID-19
test kits with them.
The protocol for allowing Bahamians and
legal residents to enter the country at this
time was breached last week.
I have now been informed that instead of
the stated two permanent residents who
were allowed to disembark and remain in the
18country that it was actually six permanent
residents, who are all related.
All of these individuals have tested
negative for COVID-19 and will remain under
a mandatory 14-day quarantine.
The Minister of Health will issue a
statement on this matter tomorrow.
Let me be clear about the protocol for
Bahamians and residents wishing to return
to The Bahamas.
19Citizens and legal residents of The
Bahamas, the latter with a home in The
Bahamas, will be permitted entry into The
Bahamas via air travel to New Providence or
Grand Bahama unless approved otherwise.
Those individuals in these categories are
to make contact with the nearest Bahamas
Embassy or Consulate to them.
Aircraft and airlines proposing to carry
such individuals are required to make flight
applications in the normal course to the
Department of Civil Aviation.
20Each person will be required to obtain a
RT-PCR COVID 19 molecular diagnostic
test from an accredited lab prior to returning,
unless otherwise approved to have the test
administered upon arrival.
As some individuals returning from
Florida have indicated they are having a
difficulty in obtaining this test, we are helping
to facilitate them in obtaining the diagnostic
test.
21The test results, identifying particulars
and contact information of each returning
individual will be submitted to the Office of
the Chief Medical Officer, Ministry of Health.
All those returning will be required to be
quarantined for fourteen days, in a
government quarantined facility or self
quarantined.
They will all be subject to mandatory
quarantine verification monitoring by the
Ministry of Health.
22Fellow Bahamians and Residents:
As I announced in the House of
Assembly this past Monday, the
Government has made arrangements for the
return of hundreds of Bahamians who have
been in the United States for some time.
It is expected that they will begin arriving
to New Providence by this weekend.
For this group of Bahamians returning
from the United States on the commercial
aircraft, these individuals will have the option
23of self-quarantining at home or being
quarantined at the facility the Government
has identified for the group, for a two-week
period.
Individuals in quarantine, at home or in
the Government facility, must adhere to the
strict protocols established by public health
officials.
Those who break quarantine or violate
the quarantine order face a $20,000 fine or
five years imprisonment, or both. This will be
strictly enforced.
24Fellow Bahamians and Residents:
The National Food Committee is making
preparations to ensure fair and adequate
food distribution for all Bahamians and
residents.
To date there are 88 NGOs and private
sector entities involved in the national food
effort who have provided information for a
national survey.
Responses have come from Grand
Bahama, New Providence, Abaco,
25Eleuthera, Exuma, Andros, Cat Island,
Acklins, Long Island, San Salvador, Berry
Islands, Bimini, Crooked Island, Mayaguana
and Inagua.
A National database is in development.
The database will allow any individual in
need to register, with three clarifying
locational references, including, island,
constituency, and settlement or residential
community.
The Food Committee is in discussion
with Samaritan's Purse who is offering
26to seek international support from the World
Food Program and other international
partners to underwrite a voucher program for
people in need in Abaco and Grand
Bahama.
The Committee is carrying out a capacity
analysis of the NGOs and PSEs for a three-
month window to better understand where
we are and what national capacity looks like.
The estimate is that the collective costs
to these entities to be nearly $250,000 a
27week, which I wish to acknowledge with
gratitude.
The Committee will over the coming days
and weeks provide more details on the
structure of the program and how food will
be distributed.
I once again thank the members of the
Committee for their spirit of patriotism and
community service.
This is what solidarity and national unity
look like.
28Fellow Bahamians and Residents:
Early in the fight against COVID -19, the
Ministry of Health advised that, as a key
strategy to reduce transmission, schools
should be closed.
I advised the Minister of Education of this
decision and, therefore, schools were
ordered close on Monday, March 16th, 2020.
To continue the education of students in
the government-operated school system,
the Ministry of Education enhanced the
development of the Virtual Learning School
29that was launched in September 2019,
following Hurricane Dorian.
The enhancement of the Virtual Learning
required the development and expansion of
ICT infrastructure to host the virtual learning
activities and to train teachers and staff.
Within a number of days, the Department
of Education was able to train in excess of
2,100 of its approximately 3,000 teachers in
the use of Zoom and other virtual platforms
to support online teaching.
30Led by curriculum officers, hundreds of
teachers were engaged in the process of
content development.
The Ministry of Education was able to
commence its virtual learning platform on
Monday 23th March and added the feature
of ‘live’ instruction one week later.
Registration of students to the platform
continues to climb and now stands at about
3141,000 public, private and home-schooled
students.
While the number of registered students
is commendable, the Ministry is concerned
about the approximately 15,000 students
who are not engaged in learning at this time,
due to a lack of internet, devices or both.
To assist those without the available
internet or devices, the Ministry partnered
with Cable Bahamas to launch two channels
32on Wednesday 15th April, 2020, to broadcast
academic content.
Channel 295 was dedicated to New
Providence, Grand Bahama, Abaco and
Eleuthera, while Cable 12 served the
majority of the remainder of the Family
Islands.
I am assured also that the children on the
few Family Islands which are unable to
receive either Channels 295 or 12 are being
33assisted by their parents and teachers in
obtaining their instructions online.
The material now being broadcast are
designed for students studying for the BJC
and BGCSE Exams.
A separate channel will be launched
soon, with materials for the other grades.
The Ministry of Education is securing
some 5,000 devices for distribution
throughout the Bahamas.
34The first students to receive these
devices will be those on the Ministry’s lunch
feeding program, followed by others as
deemed necessary.
I wish to thank the Ministry of Education
staff and administrators, teachers and staff
throughout the country for their hard work
during this time.
The Ministry of Education is also
addressed the nutritional needs of our most
economically vulnerable students.
35Efforts were made to distribute food
vouchers to the 4,300 students who
ordinarily participate in the school feeding
program.
The Ministry was happy that, in the
Family Islands, the collection rates were very
high.
Unfortunately, the collection rate in the
urban areas of Nassau and Freeport, was
not good, with only about half of the
vouchers being collected.
36The public is advised that the Ministry of
Education will engage in a second round of
voucher distribution for students who were
already on the school lunch program.
One of the implications of online
education, now that the traditional school
has been suspended, is that end of term and
National Exams such as the GLAT, BJC and
BGCSE have been postponed, NOT
cancelled.
37These exams will still take place
whenever the opportunity arises to conduct
them safely.
For this reason, students are reminded
that in order to do well on their exams, they
must remain studious and disciplined in their
studies.
Parents are encouraged to ensure that
their children develop a schedule for their
school work, and attend to them diligently.
38To expand the Ministry’s support for
students, particularly those preparing for
National Examinations, the Ministry of
Education is in the process of re-engaging
The One on One Learning Management
System, a Public Private Tripartite
Partnership between the Ministry and Cable
& Wireless and BTC.
One-on-One is a relatively new and
innovative company out of Jamaica which
has offered online learning to students in
39countries across the English-Speaking
Caribbean.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian,
thousands of Bahamian students benefited
free of charge from the extra-tuition
opportunities afforded them by this
partnership.
The Minister of Education assured me
that such an arrangement will further support
the Virtual Learning Platform which his
Ministry has put in place, ensuring
40opportunities for all students in both public
and private schools.
In terms of the re-opening of schools, the
public is again reminded that the Ministry of
Education will be guided by the advice of the
Ministry of Health and its officials.
However, in the short term, matters
pertaining to the continued development of
learning resources, increasing access to the
Virtual Learning Platform by vulnerable
41students, student assessment and other
logistics are being addressed.
Fellow Bahamians and Residents:
Since the very beginning of our fight
against the COVID-19 virus, we have had to
work in a spirit of solidarity and national
unity.
We must continue to work together, in
love and unity, to protect our country and
each other.
42We have a very long and difficult road
ahead to restore our health, to restore our
economy and to restore our society.
We will have to rely on each other and
greater self-reliance to pull through and to
endure.
But we will travel this rough road
together.
We must do so with faith in ourselves and
faith in Almighty God, who is fortress and our
strength.
43Let us recall during this difficult time the
words of inspiration and encouragement
from the song, “When the Road Seems
Rough” from the Legend of Sammy Swain
written by E. Clement Bethel, which I wish to
paraphrase.
“When the road seems rough, when
you’ve borne enough, don’t cry, don’t sigh …
just keep on trying … This time will pass,
tomorrow’s another day.”
44Let me end with the prayer I offered for
the Annual U. S. National Prayer Breakfast
in Washington D.C. held yesterday.
Lord of Life, God of New Beginnings:
We come before you seeking wisdom
and discernment during these days of trial
and challenge.
We beseech you to give comfort to the
dying, the ill and their families.
We ask you to heal the sick of heart,
mind, body and spirit.
45Protect all of those who minister to us on
the frontlines of the global pandemic
threatening the peoples and nations of the
world.
Grant us a spirit of global solidarity.
Grant us the gifts of kindness, humility
and compassion for all.
Grant us the gift of peace in our hearts
and the cessation of conflict and war.
Invoke in us words and deeds of love and
justice as we care for the poor, the
vulnerable and the marginalized in our lands.
46Just as you bring life out of death and
new life abundantly, grant us the courage,
the hope, the will and the foresight to bring
new life out of this time of pain and suffering.
God of New Beginnings: Give us the gift
of a new Pentecost.
Let your Spirit reign in our hearts.
In the lamentation of the Psalmist, we
plead and cry out to the Lord of Life:
“ … O Lord … hear [our] voice.
O let your ears be attentive to the voice
of [our] pleading.”
47With deep faith in our God, the words of
Isaiah 41: 10 are our shield and our refuge:
“Fear not, for I am with you, be not
dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will
uphold you with my victorious right hand.”
God of New Beginnings
Through your Spirt, may we ever be men
and women of gratitude and generosity, of
justice and mercy, of fortitude and faith
God of New Beginnings: To thee we
pray.
48Amen!
Fellow Bahamians and Residents:
May God continue to bless our Bahamas.
Thank you and good evening.
____
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