The Tribune

Grand Bahama’s lockdown has been extended to 5am on Wednesday, August 19, Minister of State for Grand Bahama Senator Kwasi Thompson announced during a press conference on Thursday.

The island’s current two-week lockdown, July 23 to August 7, ends tomorrow morning at 5am. The Minister said the extension is an effort to slow and control community spread of the COVID-19 pandemic on Grand Bahama.

Three hundred and thirty-six confirmed cases were recorded for the island as of Wednesday. Grand Bahama now falls under the same lockdown order as the rest of the country, which went into effect on Tuesday evening.

Minister Thompson reminded residents of those permitted to operate: grocery stores, gas stations for external services only; pharmacies for curbside services only; water depots; bakeries for curbside and delivery; water and ice production companies for curbside and delivery services only; and hardware stores for curbside and delivery.

Grocery stores, pharmacies for curbside, gas stations for external service and water depots can open for essential workers on Saturdays from 7am to 1pm.

Commercial banks may provide client-facing services on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 9am to 1pm.

“The Grand Bahama Food Task Force will continue to provide food for those residents in need during the extended lockdown,” said Minister Thompson. “To date, we have distributed 5,366 vouchers assisting thousands of Grand Bahamians. Today, we have distributed 1,202 vouchers to Grand Bahamians.”

He urged residents to view the complete list of exempted businesses and services of the Emergency (Covid 19 Pandemic) (Lockdown) Order, 2020 on opm.gov.bs.

Information is also available on the Facebook and Instagram platforms.

Information may be provided at the following numbers: WhatsApp 727-2473; Help Desk, 727-8119, 727-0993, 727-0837, and 727-0836 or emailing opmgbinfocenter@bahamas.gov.bs.