On Monday morning, November 30th, 2020, during an 11am ground-breaking ceremony for a Department of Housing subdivision in the Carmichael Village on New Providence, Prime Minister Hubert Minnis, near the end of his speech, announced the relaxation of weekend lockdown and weekday curfew restrictions which had been imposed on mainland Eleuthera beginning on November 8th, 2020, following a quick rise in confirmed Covid-19 cases on the island during the latter weeks of October and early November 2020.
The Prime Minister in his brief announcement, said, “I would like to announce here today that Eleuthera’s restrictive measures taken will be relaxed. Eleuthera’s curfew will now commence at 10pm, as opposed to 6pm, and all indoor and outdoor restaurants can now function. Patrons can now enter restaurants for indoor dining. I advise that everyone sticks to the mitigation protocols for Covid-19.”
The casually delivered announcement came after a weekend visit by the Bahamas Ministry of Health’s Surveillance team, who arrived in Eleuthera on Friday, November 27th, 2020 in follow-up to their three-day visit at the end of October, ahead of the imposition of weekend lockdowns and weekday 6pm curfew restrictions on mainland Eleuthera.
The announcement by the Prime Minister, that restrictions will be relaxed on the island, marks the end of a three-week period of weekend lockdowns and 6pm week day curfews. As of Sunday, November 29th, the Ministry of Health reported 148 confirmed cases of Covid-19 on Eleuthera, since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, nine months ago.
