Bahamas - EMERGENCY POWERS (COVID 19)(NO. 1) ORDER, 2020 ???

[AllenRbrts]

Very empty up here. We have seen about 6 boats over the last couple of days. We might circle around the Abacos and head to the Berrys. Our timing is dependent on how things unfold stateside. Right now we very much like being in the Bahamas, no human contact for over a week since we last bought provisions.

Originally Posted by Safari38LH

We went to say hi 2 days ago an you were gone. Let us know how the Abacos are. We are thinking of the Berries when we start heading home.

[zboss]

Originally Posted by Woodland Hills

It looks like the Bahamas is going to track up the curve just like every other country from one case a week ago to ten yesterday and 20 to 40 in about a week. The fact that it is already on New Providence and Grand Bahama indicates that it is loose in the wild. One can only hope that shutting down the passenger traffic between the islands was done in time. Of course it’s going to eventually be spread by the crews of the mail boats since we now know that you can be contagious with no visible symptoms.

The Bahamas PM just did a live stream and said there were 14 cases and that they were not associated with travel or connected to previously existing cases... so its out and about. They only extended the restrictions by 8 days.

They also said that they are basing their decisions to remove restrictions on the comparisons between the modeled projections and actual cases. So if the curve is below the modeled projections and "flattening" then they may be able to make a decision to remove restrictions sooner; however, if the curve is not flattening or has exceeded the modeled projections, they will extend the emergency provisions as needed.

We are now in Hatchet Bay to ride out the weather coming Tuesday night/wednesday with the expectation that we will then slowly make our way back to the US. If the bahamians are unable to "flatten the curve" than I only see animosity towards foreigners growing because of the on-going lockdown. I would not like to be faced with having to evacuate teh bahamas with only a few days notice and be on some far out islands.

[Ben51]

Just in case you still think as a cruiser in the Bahamas you are not covered by the Emergency Order, see attached:

[BlueH2Obound]

Interesting that people are arguing conjunctions, comma's, verbs, etc with the Gov't directive. I suggest that any jail house lawyer who wishes to interpret the directive to their advantage think about a few things, specifically:

• You aren't in the US, and don't have the legal protection of our laws.
• There are $10,000 reasons why you shouldn't play lawyer with the Bahamian authorities.
• If you insist on playing lawyer with the Bahamian authorities, you potentially have 6 months to prepare your legal case.
• During the time above, your boat may have been impounded, and could be sold off for fees incurred . . .

Just some food for thought.

[Woodland Hills]

24 cases on three islands now. Add Bimini to the list, the most recent death was from there which means the virus was loose on the island for at least two week previous. This is the point where the exponential curve begins to climb rapidly. 24 becomes 50, becomes 100, etc.

We are seeing the infections of two weeks ago and it will be two more weeks before we see those who were infected today. I made the post at the top of the page 5 days ago when there were 14 cases countrywide, now it’s 24, how many will there by by Sunday. BTW are the churches closed yet?

[BlueH2Obound]

Originally Posted by Ben51

Just in case you still think as a cruiser in the Bahamas you are not covered by the Emergency Order, see attached:

Pretty sure someone will point out that there was/wasn't a comma somewhere in that Remain in Place order . . .

[Group9]

Originally Posted by BlueH2Obound

Interesting that people are arguing conjunctions, comma's, verbs, etc with the Gov't directive. I suggest that any jail house lawyer who wishes to interpret the directive to their advantage think about a few things, specifically:

• You aren't in the US, and don't have the legal protection of our laws.
• There are $10,000 reasons why you shouldn't play lawyer with the Bahamian authorities.
• If you insist on playing lawyer with the Bahamian authorities, you potentially have 6 months to prepare your legal case.
• During the time above, your boat may have been impounded, and could be sold off for fees incurred . . .

Just some food for thought.

It is amazing, the lengths people willl go, to interpret every rule and regulation, exactly as it needs to be interpreted to allow them to do what they want to do.

At some point, these people need to realize, that they are in a global pandemic, and that it supersedes their vacation plans, no matter how much they had been looking forward to them.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by BlueH2Obound

Pretty sure someone will point out that there was/wasn't a comma somewhere in that Remain in Place order . . .

No, all it does is say stay on your boat. It doesn’t say stay on your boat and that’s boat doesn’t move, which it should but it doesn’t.
Plus that’s Eluthera, for whatever reason it’s not being distributed elsewhere.
For reasons that I can’t figure out, they don’t seem to want to either cancel our Cruising permits or place restrictions on them, which would to me be logical.
But they won’t for some reason come out and say don’t move.
We are still having boats coming and going, each island and actually even each community seems to have their own idea of what should happen.
Where I am now they are real concerned about “new” boats, and do not want those people to come ashore, but it seems the ones that have been here for awhile and they know, they are fine with them.

You know that many are unemployed and now have zero income, I have tried to get one or two interested in taking grocery orders and delivering it to the dinghy dock, that keeps the boaters off shore, and gives them some income.
Now say $20 for grocery shopping isn’t a whole lot of money, but when you have none, surely it would help.

[Woodland Hills]

Originally Posted by Group9

It is amazing, the lengths people willl go, to interpret every rule and regulation, exactly as it needs to be interpreted to allow them to do what they want to do.

At some point, these people need to realize, that they are in a global pandemic, and that it supersedes their vacation plans, no matter how much they had been looking forward to them.

It is simply a demonstration of privilege and entitlement. Mixed with the inevitable condescension towards the locals. It is so deeply ingrained in us that we don’t see it and can’t help it. All of us, myself included....... all one can do is acknowledge that it is there and be constantly trying to fight those tendencies and attitudes.

[a64pilot]

People cruising around may be the privilege and entitlement crowd.
But in reading laws or legal orders etc, you don’t read anything into it, no interpretations, you go by exactly what is printed, especially if it’s later copied exactly into a future order.

Example, yesterday a US flagged boat left Bimini yesterday to repatriate, (going back the the US) it was intercepted and told to return to Bimini by the Defense Force.
Now you want to bet that they got that wrong? Someone read into an order they were given I’d bet and turned that into don’t let them out of the Harbor to cruise around into don’t let any boat leave.
That is what happens when you start reading into what is written and applying interpretations and opinions.
For instance in an aircraft operating manual of an aircraft I used to fly right at the beginning there were specific exact definitions of the words Will, Shall and May, cause different people apply different interpretations to their meaning.

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by Ben51

Just in case you still think as a cruiser in the Bahamas you are not covered by the Emergency Order, see attached:

It amazes me how some people just don't understand what quarantine means.

Thanks for posting; what was obvious has to be put into writing.

Stay put. Be that at home, or on your boat.

[AllenRbrts]

One of the persons who received the letter in Eleuthera had a conversion with the officer and posted that interaction on Facebook. The officer said there was no restriction on boat movement, only contact with shore which was forbidden. Unfortunately that was not included in the letter. Hopefully at some point there will be some official clarification. The Prime Minister made it clear the out islands should refuse all shore contact with boats from other island groups.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by AllenRbrts

One of the persons who received the letter in Eleuthera had a conversion with the officer and posted that interaction on Facebook. The officer said there was no restriction on boat movement, only contact with shore which was forbidden. Unfortunately that was not included in the letter. Hopefully at some point there will be some official clarification. The Prime Minister made it clear the out islands should refuse all shore contact with boats from other island groups.

That has been the way it has been from the beginning, the part about no restriction on movement, now local authorities have put their interpretations into it, and it’s gotten confusing as of course the truth differs depending on where you are, and day to day, cause I assume they call Nassau about it and are told different from what they thought.
Yeah, I know doesn’t seem to pass the common sense test to lock up your civilians and let the foreigners roam free, so there must be some thing I don’t know about it. Some legal thing with foreign flagged boats or something that I am unaware of.

It seems the locals and maybe their politicians where I am now are very concerned with “new” boats, but the ones that they know have been in the bay for weeks, they aren’t.
So much so that on the net this morning we cruisers were being asked to intercept any new boats and tell them they can’t come ashore for any reason.
I asked them to please set up volunteer Harbor masters and we in the boats would just tell them to be sure it check in with the Harbor Master, cause I don’t think it’s my place to be telling another cruiser what they are or are not allowed to do, but let them do it through a “Harbor Master”

I also floated the idea that surely there is a currently unemployed individual or two that would for a fee take a grocery list and deliver the groceries or the dinghy dock, so no boaters have to come ashore. It may be only $10 or maybe $20 an order but if your getting no money now, $20 should be significant?

However it would seem to be logical to most any thinking person that the vector for the virus in the Bahamas will likely be the mail boat. Don’t all of them come from Nassau? To my knowledge nothing coming off the mail boat is disinfected, and I’d bet the crew goes into town for take out food etc.

[Montanan]

A64:

It could be much harsher, you could be back home, a hot spot in Georgia, staying at home. Please stay on your boat and do not transit so as to protect the Bahamians whose country you are apparently experiencing the privilege of visiting.

"Albany, a city of about 75,000 in southwest Georgia, is about month into an outbreak that shows no sign of peaking. Georgia coronavirus cases exceed 5,000 with more than 160 deaths reported. As of Thursday, 751 people have tested positive for COVID-19 at Phoebe, and 35 patients at the main hospital and Phoebe Sumter have died of complications of the virus. Death outcomes lag the rapid rise in new COVID-19 infections.

The two Albany, hospitals have 70 inpatients with COVID-19 and another 92 hospitalized and waiting on their test results. Steiner says Phoebe just opened a seventh COVID-19 unit and a fourth ICU. And the number of infected and dying keeps rising.

"Our job is to keep people alive, keep people healthy, and get them back into whatever it: their job, their families,” he says. “So, anytime anyone passes away, it can feel like a loss, it can feel like a failure. That weighs heavy on our team and heavy on our nurses. Steiner says they’ve been wearing protective masks, gowns and gloves for weeks. "I'd love to try to tell you we're on the downslope, and we're moving this out of southwest Georgia, but we're not there yet," he says. Steiner says he has spoken to friends and colleagues at other hospitals, from Washington State to New York City to Chicago,

All, he says, are struck by the same thing: how quickly the outbreak escalated. "We saw it in China. We saw it developing in Italy and in other parts of Europe. We thought, ‘Okay, it might come here, and we'll do this, and we'll do that.’ And one day it was here, and by the third day, we were feeling overwhelmed. So, it was so fast.” Interjecting, I'm struck that a professional would have been surprised by how a contagion has impacts, the virus is doing exactly what it was predicted to do. "Might come here." Well d'uh, how could it not? It has been obvious from the moment that China locked-down Wuhan and then Hubei Province. Our company in Montana anticipated this back on January 21st, when we learned from our Chinese clients that they did not expect to restart the operations like usual after the Chinese New Year because of a virus outbreak would restrict workers from migrating back and that suppliers would be similarly shut down for a long duration.

And, it’s not just the speed of the outbreak that stands out, Steiner says, but how quickly patients can go from sick to critical. "We’ve never seen so many patients come into the emergency room and need to go right into the ICU," Steiner says. "That's been probably been the biggest revelation, is the speed and the critical nature. Those that are sick, that are really sick, I mean they are really sick.”

Still, there are signs of hope at Phoebe. 115 patients have recovered. Steiner says 6 critical patients have come off the ventilator. Three have gone home, including a man who had been critically ill at one point."

[Group9]

I just get the impression, that the people still cruising in the Bahamas right now, love the islands and water of the Bahamas, a lot more than they love the people of the Bahamas. I just don't know how people could justify sailing over there from the U.S. for instance, after the existence of the virus was known, and risk exposing them, or staying and using up resources that the Bahamians could be using.

At some point, you just have to accept that your vacation plans don't supersede everything. Seeing it, has jaded me more than I thought I had left in me.