By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

POLICE have issued a reminder ahead of Independence Day that social gatherings for people who are not vaccinated are not allowed under current emergency order restrictions.

This holiday weekend, COVID-19 ambassadors will be patrolling areas to ensure that people are following the protocols and will be asking for proof of vaccination where warranted, police said.

“According to the Emergency Powers Orders, social gatherings are not permitted and so you are not allowed to have social gatherings of any number,” Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Zhivargo Dames, head of the COVID Enforcement Unit, said on Friday.

“You are not allowed to have persons come from a next family member's house over to your house and to have a social gathering,” he said.

“Social gatherings, yes, for persons who are not vaccinated is not allowed. If you are fully vaccinated, according to the orders, that’s if all of the persons who are attending that social gathering must be fully vaccinated in order to attend that social gathering. So I want to assure the COVID Enforcement Unit, we have put together a special operation just for this holiday.

“So if we find that persons are at social gatherings we will be stopping by to check if persons are fully vaccinated and if you are not, whether it be one person, two persons, or three persons that are not fully vaccinated you are in breach and you will be cited.”

He also said that people will have proof to show they are fully vaccinated if they are requested to do so by police.

“. . .When you go and get your vaccination, they will give you a card to prove that you are fully vaccinated. I'm not sure if the digital card has been disseminated fully to the populace as yet, but you must have your card with you. It's a yellow card, to my mind, and some of you might have the digital card,” CSP Dames explained.

“Please carry that along with you. It should be on your person at all times that you can show and prove you are fully vaccinated. It's a requirement, the officers of the COVID Enforcement Unit, if they go to an event, whether it be a restaurant (that) we stop in, we will ask you if you are fully vaccinated and we will ask you to prove that you are fully vaccinated.”

CSP Dames also cautioned restaurant owners to ensure persons coming to dine inside their establishments are fully vaccinated and stated the fines people will face if found in breach.

“I want to say to those restaurant owners, if you have persons that are coming in and dining in your restaurant, we ask please that you ensure the onus is upon you to ensure that the persons who are dining in your restaurant are fully vaccinated. I want to say to you pointedly, if the COVID Enforcement Unit or any of officer comes to your restaurant or business places, and persons are enjoying your facilities and we ask if they are fully vaccinated and they cannot prove that they are fully vaccinated according Emergency Power Orders, you are in breach and you will be fined….. The fine for that is $2,000 and every patron that's in there will be $300. You will be fined $2,000 plus $300 for every patron and the patrons there will be fined $300.”

He said a few businesses have been cited for violations recently, but he said there appears to be a decrease in people visiting prohibited establishments.

“If I were to use the last three weeks as a measuring stick, we would have cited some four to five businesses for operating a prohibited business and so if I were to use that data alone for businesses, yes, we are seeing a decrease with persons who are patronising and being cited for operating (in violation) of the Emergency Power Orders.”