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No National Shutdown, Not Yet
posted (March 25, 2020)

So, with an in-country transmission from the first infected person to her mother, by the textbook classification, that would qualify as a stage two situation.  

Today, rumours went wild that there would be an immediate national shutdown.  But, again, those were just baseless and panic inducing rumours.  The Prime Minister opened the press conference by emphatically saying that there will be no national shutdown - not yet at least:

Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow - Prime Minister
"We're not announcing a national shutdown; we're not announcing the declaration of a state of emergency. So, I want to make clear to the people of this country that it may yet come to that, if it does, we will give some notice and in any event since that is at the very least a possibility and I would go so far as to say a likelihood depending on how things evolve, I need to make clear right at the start that, if he got to that point, it would not mean that every last little thing would be locked down, there would be no need for people to rush the supermarkets, there would be no need for any run of the banks. Financial institutions, grocery stores, all those things would remain open, people would be asked to stay in place as much as possible, go out and do what you what to do with respect to you essential needs and then return home and we have on hand a plentiful supply of essential food stuff, of the necessaries of everyday life in terms of being able to feed ourselves. Please do not panic and please be assured that with respect to the essentials, life will continue in as normal a way as possible. To repeat again, supermarkets, pharmacies, banks will be remain open, of course there will be required to follow the protocols of minimizing close contact between persons."

 

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