Region Nine council members will be holding a meeting today to discuss criteria for persons to be eligible to receive a permit to leave the Region after a restriction on travel was imposed over the weekend.
Just days after the updated COVID-19 emergency measures that restrict travel into and out of regions Seven, Eight and Nine, Lethem Mayor, John Macedo and other council members will be meeting to discuss the criteria for persons to leave Lethem should the need arise, Debra King, the Deputy Mayor of Lethem told Stabroek News yesterday.
According to the updated measures, which have been gazetted and went into effect on Saturday, persons are not permitted to travel into or out of the specified regions from August 16th to August 31st without an authorization from the Minister of Health. However, Hendricks and a representative from the Cindy’s Bus Service in Lethem confirmed to Stabroek News that the Mayor will in fact be able to give permission for persons to leave Lethem. As for persons wanting to go into Lethem from other parts of Guyana, the bus service representative said she was not sure if that would be allowed or how it would be done since it is still being decided on what the criteria will entail. Hendricks said that the meeting today is expected to cover all of the relevant details.
The restrictions were put in place due to the continued rise in COVID-19 infections in the hinterland areas. Illegal travel via the Guyana/Brazil border has been seen as a factor in the outbreak of cases in regions Eight and Nine, while the outbreak in Region Seven was linked to movement in mining areas.
