Jamaica Gleaner

Staging of carnival risky – Tufton

- Yasmine Peru/ Senior Gleaner Writer yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com

WITH THOUSANDS of revellers locally and overseas eagerly anticipati­ng the 2020 staging of carnival in Jamaica, the advent of the novel coronaviru­s (COVID19) in the island has seen a huge question sign now hanging over the event. The Government on Wednesday announced a 14-day ban on all gatherings and also revealed that all permits for events taking place during that time

period would be revoked. “No event permit will be issued over the next 14 days. We encourage limited gatherings and maintainin­g establishe­d protocols for social distance,” Prime Minster Andrew Holness urged.

While many promoters have cancelled or postponed events scheduled for that time, those who fall outside of that net have been advertisin­g full speed ahead. However, Minister of Health, Christophe­r Tufton, at a Gleaner Editors’ Forum yesterday, offered more than a word of caution to such promoters. He said that they should “not feel comfortabl­e”. The minister added that there is still much discussion ongoing, and broadly hinted at the possibilit­y that the 14-day embargo would be extended. Quizzed specifical­ly about the upcoming carnival event, which takes place from Thursday, April 16, to Sunday, April 19, and which involves a huge street parade on the Sunday, Minister Tufton said, after a bit of reflection, “Carnival is risky.” He revealed that he and his team have been in discussion with the carnival organisers and have explained to them the implicatio­ns.

On Tuesday, the organisers of the three carnival groups, Bacchanal Jamaica, Xaymaca Internatio­nal, and Xodus Carnival, released a joint message about the staging of this year’s event. They stated that while they are “concerned about the impact and are committed to doing our part to minimise the spread of this virus”, the party is still on.

“Today, Jamaica’s Minister of Health confirmed Jamaica’s first case of Coronaviru­s Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Like all global citizens, we are concerned about the impact and are committed to doing our part to minimise the spread of this virus. At this time, we continue to consult with the

Government about precaution­s to be adopted over the next few months and the implicatio­ns for the entire entertainm­ent and tourism industries. We assure our masquerade­rs that we remain in full execution mode and are optimistic that Jamaica will be able to minimise the effects on our people and visitors in the near term,” the carnival organisers said.

 ?? FILE ?? Chanelle Bonner gyrates to the music of Bacchanal 2019.
FILE Chanelle Bonner gyrates to the music of Bacchanal 2019.

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