Beautiful Virgin Islands

Sunday, Jul 20, 2025

Maintain the protocols! 3% of COVID cases came from restaurants

Maintain the protocols! 3% of COVID cases came from restaurants

Noting that a percentage of the territory’s COVID-19 cases stem from the foodservice industry, National Epidemiologist, Harmony Brewley is urging all restaurant owners and their staff to operate in full compliance with local COVID-19 protocols.

Brewley made the appeal during a recent online forum with various restaurant owners across the territory as they prepare for the reopening of in-dining services.

She said: “We are definitely cautioning restaurants and the staff to be very diligent in who they interact with and how they interact with persons because we have linked several of our cases to bars, bartenders, waitresses and so forth [and] sometimes we get very lax when we’re speaking to our coworkers and colleagues.”

“We feel that we know them. They don’t look sick so, therefore, we take off our masks to interact with them. And it has led them to primary contacts coming from cases that were working in restaurants or in bars. So you do have to keep up the measures and you do have to encourage your employees to sustain the measures even amongst themselves,” Brewley further said.

Three percent of cases linked to restaurants


Brewley also revealed that of the total 69 positive cases that existed in the territory prior to the latest recorded patients, three percent were directly linked to restaurants.

Of that percentage, Brewley said a number of those persons exhibited symptoms of the virus.

“Now three percent does not seem like a lot. However, if they’re interacting with staff and they interacted in passing with other customers, it means then that those persons then become primary contacts, which means that those persons have been exposed and would take home the said virus to their families, which could then potentially make them secondary contacts,” Brewley she reasoned.

She added: “The problem isn’t so much that the cases were positive, it really comes down to whether or not they were symptomatic or even pre-symptomatic while visiting the restaurants. And in this case, they were symptomatic which means that the risk of your staff contracting COVID-19 increases exponentially.”

Penalties to be enforced


Meanwhile, Chief Environmental Health Officer Lionel Michael said his department will ensure businesses adhere to the existing COVID-19 protocols.

He said his department in collaboration with the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force will have an army of workers going around to monitor the actions of both employees and customers.

If persons or businesses are caught in breach of the protocols, Michael said they will be ticketed.

According to Public Health (COVID-19 Control & Suppression Measures) (No. 8) Order, 2020, an individual found in breach for the first time will be required to pay a fine of $100 and to attend mandatory training sessions. For an individual’s second offence, the fine will increase to $200.

In contrast, businesses found in breach of the COVID-19 protocols for their first offence will be required to pay a fine of $1,000 and will be issued a notice of temporary closure, which will persist until the owner attends a training session and makes the necessary corrections.

A second breach by a business will result in a $2,000 fine along with an order of immediate closure of the establishment. The business will also have its Environmental Health Certificate revoked.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Defends Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Epstein Memo Backlash
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
King Charles Meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show
If the Department is Really About Justice: Ghislaine Maxwell Should Be Freed Now
NYC Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Antifada’ Remarks Spark National Debate on Political Language and Economic Policy
President Trump Visits Flood-Ravaged Texas, Praises Community Strength and First Responders
×