The Tribune

ANGLICAN Archbishop Laish Boyd is urging residents to comply with the government’s extended emergency orders to avoid “widespread infection and death.”

His plea came in a pastoral letter issued in observance of Holy Week, which begins on Sunday.

The country is under a 24-hour curfew and a state of emergency until April 8, as the number of COVID-19 cases surge.

“These measures were entirely expected and were anticipated and even forecasted weeks ago,” Bishop Boyd noted. “It is a part of the ongoing efforts to contain the Covid-19 coronavirus and to limit its spread. It presents inconvenience and ‘cramps our style’. It is also hard to stay at home when so many of us are used to going out every day to school, work, etc.… and having a day comprised of diverse activity and locations.”

Bishop Boyd, who oversees the Anglican Diocese of The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos, urged residents of both countries to obey the national regulations.

“I urge us to endure the inconvenience and restriction now in order to avoid widespread infection and death, and to accomplish a better day in the future. I call us to accept the wisdom of the disciplines which God created – science, medicine and public health, whose advice we live by generally – and to limit our movements and interactions.

“Being subject is an important part of life and of being human. Children are subject to their parents and to the principal, teachers, staff, curricula and routine of the school system. Parents are obligated to creating and to maintaining an environment for their children, and to providing for their needs until they can provide for themselves. A married couple is subject to the vows they made and to the common life they build together. When we are subject to someone or something it is not domination or a prison or something that demeans us; it is an obligation that we give ourselves to because it has a value larger than we are, larger than right now, larger than ego or desire or personal comfort or instant gratification.”