Roll back night curfew to 10 p.m.

THE EDITOR, Madam

I AM joining the call by the private sector to roll back the curfew hours to 10 p.m. and maintain it over the long run for the following reasons:

1. There is no law of epidemiology which states that the coronavirus is most virulent during the night compared to its behaviour during the day.

2. The setting of any curfew time during the night is an arbitrary decision and should not be carved in stone.

3. The time set for nightly curfew must be done against a study which examines the time necessary for businesses to close at the most economical hour of the evening that will allow employees to leave work and reach home to carry out after-work chores, without being on a break-neck race. 4. This systematic approach will allow for timely, orderly and predictable planning of the business sector to capitalise on manufacturing and sales, which are the engines of economic activity and the lifeblood of the already-emasculated economy.

As a public health specialist with much experience in epidemiology and health sector management, I am issuing an imperative to the medical officer of health and her dedicated staff to set fixed curfew hours with the above recommendations in mind. No time should be set without the full input of the general public, to ensure that the economy will have time to breathe and settle down to cope with, and gradually employ, the necessary strategies to surmount the current challenge that COVID-19 presents to the economy.

I appeal to our prime minister to urgently address the crime problem. He has a legal and moral duty to serve the nation by setting up a meaningful task force to bring the criminals to book and put them away.

DR J.D. WOOD

Executive Director

Jamaica Foundation for Natural Medicine