Saturday’s move to close much of the evening entertainment industry for two weeks did not come as a surprise, because preparations for such steps had been mentioned since Wednesday. It was also obvious from the rapid rise in active coronavirus cases to 150 at the time of the announcement, to 172 later that day and 193 on Sunday.
There had been concern about the impact on the tourism economy just restarted after four months at a practical standstill, by reopening to its main source market the US. However, although bars, clubs and lounges were ordered to close until the end of August, restaurants may stay open until 10:00pm and casinos can continue to operate with restrictions on table games and serving beverages.
This means visitors are still able to go out to eat and try their luck at the slot machines, be it without free drinks. That will certainly be appreciated in the hard-hit hospitality sector.
Perhaps the biggest reason for the decree was fear of exceeding the country’s COVID-19 treatment capacity, with all possible consequences. With 10 persons hospitalised and two in isolation that critical point is not so far away.
According to information provided by St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) in early April at the beginning of the local outbreak, the isolation capacity had been increased to 14 beds of which six were for intensive care with ventilators. The exact current situation regarding assistance of medics from a US company provided via the Netherlands is unknown, but it seems obvious that too many more patients could become a serious problem.
Under the circumstances, prohibitions on gatherings in crowded places where folks tend to party without social distancing and/or wearing face masks are understandable. While not everyone might agree, by stopping short of completely shutting down some businesses catering to guests, government chose a reasonable and measured response.
