Health authorities have scrapped the few remaining COVID-19 mandates, ending more than two years of protocols imposed on Barbadians to help control the spread of the virus.Declaring that legal regulations are no longer needed to manage the situation, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) The Most Honourable Dr Kenneth George announced on Wednesday that effective immediately, the Emergency Management Order and its accompanying directives would come to an end.He said authorities came to the decision after assessing the local, regional and international evidence collated over the last two-and-a-half years of the pandemic.Commuters are now free to go maskless on public transport and schoolchildren will no longer be required to wear the protective face covering when they return to the classroom next month. There will also be no legal obligation for special requirements in medical facilities such as the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and dental offices, and senior citizens’ homes.“This has been an extremely long journey and after careful consultation with the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), some of our external partners, and with the Senior Minister of Health and Wellness, The Most Honourable Dr Jerome Walcott, the recommendation from the CMO and the recommendation from the EOC is that we no longer require legislation to govern a public health incident. Why is this so? We have learnt tremendously over a two-and-a-half-year period,” Dr George said at a press conference.
