Basseterre, St. Kitts, March 18, 2021 (SKNIS): Businesses, churches, event organizers and other institutions that record the names, addresses and contact details of patrons accessing their establishments are strongly encouraged to store the data for at least 30 days.
Abdias Samuel, Chairman of the National COVID-19 Task Force, said that the information that is collected as part of the COVID-19 health and safety protocols is critical to health authorities.
“They help us with the contact tracing that the Ministry of Health will have to do in the event that we have incidents like those that happened on the weekend,” he said.
The chairman was referring to two separate quarantine breaches that took place by eight persons vacationing in place at an approved facility in Nevis. The first occurrence had two guests leaving the hotel compound illegally, and the second incident saw six of the guests illegally leaving the hotel and accessing a local nightspot.
As a result, some 40 persons were forced to go into quarantine having being identified through contact tracing. The eight guests who broke quarantine were subsequently arrested and charged. They pleaded guilty at a virtual court hearing and were each fined EC$4,000 forthwith or face six months in prison.
“We are all vulnerable to these incidents, and I am appealing to the business sector, in particular entertainers, promoters and those that have businesses that host such events, to please keep records of the individuals that come in and out of your establishment,” Mr. Samuel stated at the NEOC COVID-19 Briefing on March 17.
He also appealed to the organizers of events to accurately capture all of the patrons, and to not exceed the prescribed numbers stipulated when approval for the event have been granted.
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