Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Where Is Cabinet Approved COVID-19 Plan?

Where Is Cabinet Approved COVID-19 Plan?

Opposition legislator and Second District Representative Hon. Melvin ‘Mitch’ Turnbull has questioned the reason behind what he said is the lack of a plan by the government of the day to deal with the Novel Coronavirus Disease in the BVI.

Mr. Turnbull made the remark on Wednesday, August 26, during a press conference called by Members of Opposition at the House of Assembly’s conference room in Road Town.

“We are still waiting for the plan that was approved in Cabinet as it relates to the COVID-19 stimulus plan, the recovery plan, the plan to deal with everything," he said.

“We are still waiting to understand that how is it we are here now, we heard of a rumoured, falsely-reported cases of a young lady who left this territory from Jost Van Dyke and in a matter of minutes in the late midnight hours, creeping through the midnight, a shutdown order was given for the island of Jost Van Dyke?” he continued added.

He said the government issued an immediate shut down of the island, however, this is not being done on the main island of Tortola.

“They shut down the whole island and tested everybody, but now we are here in Tortola of several reported cases, and we seem to be playing with people’s health. Because you shut down the banks, you shut down the financial services; you shut down businesses who have gone through this tedious process to get approval to open and then allow persons to frolic so to speak and gather from 5 am to 5 pm," Hon. Tunrbull stressed.

He continued, "so what message are we really sending? Are we trying to be popular? Are we trying to promote business, are we trying to stimulate the economy or we are just doing what we think we should do? Again there is the absence of a plan, in the absence of a plan there is always a knee jerk reaction to something."

Late May, Premier and Minister for Finance Hon. Andrew Fahie delivered his $62.9 million COVID-19 economic plan.

The plan, according to Fahie, was to assist those who are jobless, struggling business entities, hotels, taxis. According to reports, that plan has been moving at a snail’s pace.

Concerns About Latest Measures


Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Hon. Marlon Penn said he had some concerns over the latest measures put in place to control the spread of the virus.

“The concern that I have and the concern that the public raise is, we are allowing certain businesses to operate, but we are allowing persons in the public to roam the streets between 5 am and 5 pm which in itself sort of contradicts any plans to sort of halt the issue of spread (of the virus) throughout the territory," he lamented.

He said a more ‘viable solution’ needs to be implemented.

“I think the government said after seven days, the intent is to re-look at the issue of the overall plan. We believe that there needs to be an approach that strikes the right balance. Because if you are having persons that are out and about for 12 hours who could have been otherwise employed in their work places, places that have gone through safety protocols already, that have been assessed properly as it relates to health protocols and the different protocols that were put in place,” he argued.

Hon. Penn emphasised that, "we need to find the right balance to ensure that business that have been struggling throughout this period, who have been struggling throughout this last six months, many of them either we decide to support that aspect of our businesses, in construction, in different aspects of our businesses that can work safely. So we need to work on establishing those key protocols going forward.”

Currently, only approved businesses conducting essential services such as pharmacies and supermarkets are allowed to operate between the hours of 5 am and 5 pm.

From 5pm to 5am, residents are to remain home.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×