Minister Anthony: Persons failing to wear facemasks in public to face fines, jail time

Persons found failing to wear facemasks in public are now liable to fines and can face time in prison. This is according to the Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, who was at the time providing a COVID-19 update with the Department of Public Information (DPI). According to the Minister, the recently gazetted COVID-19 measures, published on August 14, specifically state that persons failing to follow the orders will be liable to punishment. According to Paragraph 17 of the order, any person who fails to comply with the order commits an offence under the Section 152 of the Public Health Ordinance and is liable on summary conviction to the penalty provided under that section.

A perusal of the Section 152 of Public Health Ordinance reveals that “any person who contravenes any of the provisions of the Ordinance made by the government, or who fails, neglects or refuses to execute any work or to do anything which he is required to do by virtue of any of the provisions of the ordinance shall be guilty of an offence and shall, unless some other penalty is provided therefore, (be) liable to a penalty with or without hard labour for any term exceeding two months.” The Ordinance, passed in the 1930s, also states that the individual is liable to a penalty of just $50.

“Where the offence is a continuing one, unless some other penalty is provided therefore, the offender shall be liable to a further penalty not exceeding GYD10 for everyday for which the offence continues, and in default of payment, to imprisonment for any period not exceeding three months,” the Ordinance states. Minister Anthony furthered noted that it is not the wish for persons to be imprisoned for not wearing facemasks. To this end, he further implored citizens to stringently abide by the guidelines in an effort to the curb the spread of COVID-19.

The Dr. Anthony additionally noted that, currently, the Ministry of Health (MoH) is working towards increasing the testing capacity of the National Public Health Reference Laboratory. As it stands, the Laboratory can conduct a total of 80 tests daily. (Kaieteur News)