A statement from Minister for Health and Social Development Honourable Carvin Malone (AL), on Thursday, April 1, 2021, said: “The number of active, positive cases is now reported at 13, and this figure continues to slowly climb as the hard-working Public Health team conduct their contact tracing exercises.

“While no drastic actions are required at this time, it is prudent to allow the mass testings scheduled for the 6th through the 8th of April to be completed and avoid any inadvertent spread of the virus,” he said.

Gatherings for churches shall not exceed 100 persons at any given time.

Reduce crowd size

Meanwhile, Minister Malone said Cabinet decided to reduce the crowd size for all events and “the strong, very strong advice to consider the cancellation of this weekend's group or crowd activities and to observe all health and safety protocols.”

This was further revealed via the Public Health (Covid-19 Control and Suppression Measures) Order, 2021, which was gazetted on March 31, 2021.

It said: “The Minister, in the exercise of the powers conferred by sections 13, 14 and 15 of the Public Health Ordinance (Cap. 194) makes this Order. These Orders are made for the purpose of protecting public health and for the prevention, control and suppression of the spread of the virus.”

It continued: “Subject to subsections (2) and (3), all gatherings shall be limited to one person per sixty-four square feet and shall not exceed seventy-five persons at any given time, and in the case of vulnerable persons, the gathering shall be limited to no more than five persons, as certified by the Chief Environmental Health Officer. (2) Subsection (1) shall not apply to the following gatherings, which shall be limited to one person per sixty-four square feet and shall not exceed one hundred persons at any given time: (a) a faith-based service; (b) a graduation ceremony; (c) a wedding ceremony; (d) a funeral. (3) Where the organisers of an outdoor event anticipate that the event will exceed a gathering of seventy-five persons, he or she shall make a written request to the Minister, seeking permission to hold the event.”