The decision to allow residents to visit mini- and supermarkets only in their area is understandable, considering the problems with grocery delivery services that face backlogs of up to four days (see related story). That and the sheer challenge of distributing government-sponsored food parcels to thousands who registered as needy make it imperative to grant people direct access to basic supplies after 10 days of lockdown.
It will start this Thursday and Friday, with a two-days-a-week schedule envisioned moving forward. While the location limit might be difficult to enforce in practice, people had better stick to the rules and follow guidelines, because if similar scenes occur as witnessed at some stores on the first day just essential personnel were allowed to shop again, the party could soon be over.
Customers were not always practising social distancing outside and police reportedly pulled people without a valid pass or form from the line. The business owners and their security guards too have an important responsibility in that regard.
It’s all about keeping the COVID-19 numbers and especially related fatalities down. The Dutch and French sides each reported one new case on Tuesday. They now have 53 (of which 39 active) and 35 (of which 17 active) cases as well as nine and two deaths, respectively.
One reason to loosen St. Maarten’s movement restrictions is the arrival of test kits with related materials to go into known “hot spots” and assess the extent of the coronavirus spread. The team is targeting 100 households per day.
Readers should keep in mind that this probably will lead to additional confirmed infections, but the whole point is to get a truer picture of the contamination degree within these communities. That will allow for more data-based planning, which is always a good idea.
One thing seems clear: Getting, as far as even completely possible, back to “normal” is going to be – borrowing the famous Beatles song title – a long and winding road.
