Renowned Urologist Dr Dwayne “Baba” Thwaites, has pointed to the financial capacity of the government, along with the lack of more regimented Covid-19 measures, as some of the indirect reasons for continued restrictions throughout the holiday season.
Speaking on Observer AM Wednesday, Dr Thwaites spoke on the “freedoms” enjoyed by residents of St Kitts & Nevis, following the implementation of strict Covid-19 measures over the past months.
In Antigua and Barbuda though, constraints have been increased through the season, in a bid to reduce the spread of the virus.
Thwaites stated that in comparison, our island neighbors can afford to relax their restrictions, as they had a more strictly regulated management structure in place.
“There approach was very rigid. I guess they were in a better economical situation than we were so they were able to do so. I still think that we could have been a bit more regimental and that would have helped us into this holiday period. In St Kitts and Nevis, even though they are not congregating, they still have the freedom to move around.
“I’ve even visited Tortola and they were very regimental in their system to prevent their population from getting the disease. They are very population based sensitive. They like to protect their own. Even how the way their economic system is set up it’s all about being them. So now during the season they are able to congregate because they know for sure that within your community itself they have it under control because they did a good rigid, stringent job”, Thwaites explained.
Dr Thwaites added that similar “freedoms” could be enjoyed here in Antigua and Barbuda, if a similar approach is adopted.
With the new variant of the virus now attracting global attention, he said more intense data gathering and management should be on the cards for local officials.