The Office of the Prime Minister announces that in accordance with the Emergency Powers (COVID 19 Pandemic) (Risk Management) (Amendment) (No. 6) Order, 2021, a new daily 8pm to 5am curfew will take effect for mainland Abaco, starting Sunday 28 February 2021.

The 8pm to 5am curfew will not apply to the Abaco Cays.

Also, in accordance with the newly amended Order, travel from mainland Abaco to any other island in The Bahamas will now require a negative RTPCR COVID-19 test to obtain a travel health visa.

A RTPCR test and travel health visa are not required to travel between mainland Abaco and the Abaco Cays; however, non-essential travel between the mainland and the cays is discouraged.

The move to increase curfew hours and implement a travel health visa requirement for mainland Abaco is based on recommendations made by the Ministry of Health.

In a report on the “gradual increase in confirmed COVID-19 cases on Abaco” released on 25 February, the Ministry of Health noted that between 8 January and 23 February, 48 positive cases of COVID-19 have been recorded on the island.

Twenty-three cases were recorded in Marsh Harbour and 25 in Cooper’s Town. The report noted that currently there are no confirmed cases in Sandy Point, but 11 test results are pending.

According to the report, a few cases of COVID-19 were confirmed at the Murphy Town Primary School in Central Abaco; four positive cases originated from a construction site; and six cases were confirmed to have originated from the Marsh Harbour Clinic.

Contact tracing activities are ongoing. Affected staff will be placed in quarantine and isolation as required. The Marsh Harbour Clinic has undergone deep cleaning and sanitization and remains open for service.

A team from the New Providence Surveillance Unit has been dispatched to Abaco to initiate contact tracing and to determine the level of exposure to the employees of the clinic and visiting clients.

In the meantime, three nurses have been sent to the Marsh Harbour Clinic as support staff and two more nurses are expected to arrive soon.

The Ministry Health reported that there is a sufficient number of physicians on the island to manage the COVID-19 cases.