Although Amerindian Heritage Month celebrations have been cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Regional Chairman of Region Nine Bryan Allicock yesterday revealed that persons in communities affected by the disease have still been hosting celebratory activities and this has resulted in the increase of cases within the region.
Allicock had previously reported that there were only six active coronavirus cases in the region. The number subsequently fell to four active cases but recently new COVID-19 cases were detected and these currently stand at 16.
According to Allicock, although they have been trying to educate persons about the disease, people are still celebrating Heritage Month despite the measures in place. “We are educating them but now that it’s Heritage Month, everybody wants to celebrate and even though they trying to celebrate in family structures and [with] friends alone with not much gathering, it’s still spreading the disease because they are not observing the protocols like wearing masks and social distancing,” he said.
